The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (Reissued with a Supplement)

Sarah Robertson is the editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, writes editor Katherine Barber in the
preface, is the result of “five years of work by five Canadian
lexicographers examining almost twenty million words of Canadian text
held in databases representing over 8000 different Canadian
publications.” The dictionary’s 130,000 entries, which reflect
Canadian spelling preferences and favored Canadian pronunciations,
include 2000 Canadianisms, 6000 place names (1200 of them Canadian),
short biographies of “over 800 Canadians and 5000 individuals and
mythical figures of international significance,” and more than 400
historical events. J.L. Chambers, who served as an editorial adviser on
the book, contributes a lucid and erudite essay on the history of
Canadian English.

In assembling the dictionary’s Canadian vocabulary, the
lexicographers focused special attention on “economic activities,
sports, and pastimes of particular interest to Canadians.” “Thus,”
writes Barber, “the vocabulary of logging and wheat farming, of
commercial fishing and mining is found alongside the very abundant
vocabulary of figure skating, sport fishing, and hunting. Another area
of thorough research was the culture of Aboriginal peoples of Canada.”


This reissue is identical to the 1998 edition except for the addition
of a two-page Timeline of the English Language and a three-page New Word
supplement (newcomers include Air Miles, bad hair day, cybersquatter,
Ebola, face time, Gulf War syndrome, MP3, Nunavummiut, oxygen bar, road
rage, Taliban, and Viagra).

The occasional misstep (an entry for Spanish tenor José Carreras but
none for the Canadian-born diva Teresa Stratas, for example) is
inevitable in a project as ambitious as this one. Three years after its
original publication, The Canadian Oxford Dictionary is still giving the
competition a run for its money.