[...] Word guardians have been up in arms this week over claims in a new book about the Oxford English Dictionary, which asserts that one of its former editors, Robert Burchfield, surreptitiously expunged hundreds of words with foreign origins. These accusations come from the linguist Sarah Ogilvie, herself a former editor at the dictionary, in her book “Words of the World: A Global History of the Oxford English Dictionary,” being released Thursday by Cambridge University Press. Her assertions are particularly notable because Dr. Burchfield, the editor of a four-volume supplement of the dictionary completed in 1986, had cultivated the reputation as someone who was far more inclusive than his predecessors. [...]
Dictionary Dust-Up (Danchi Is Involved) (in the NYT)