English Language FAQ

From the Hindi/Sanskrit word pandit . 

Here are the top ten words with the most entries in the Oxford English Dictionary:

Here are the words with the most separate entries in the OED:

Hedge funds are companies which pool capital from wealthy clients with a view to maximising return. They invest in all asset classes - bonds, equities etc - and  because of the scale of their investments can profit from small price movements. The largest hedge funds are also 'market makers' - their investment decisions influence others. The verb "to hedge" means to "insure oneself against loss but some successful hedge fund managers have been very aggressive in their investment strategies. The  credit-default swaps  market (famously described by Warren Buffett as 'weapons of mass financial destruction') is an example of this. In general English 'hedging your bets' is to approach an uncertain situation by taking action to cover a variety of outcomes. When a bookmaker receives a large bet on a particular result, he will generally 'lay off' the bet with another bookmaker. This mean by betting a smaller amount on the opposite outcome. ...

According to new research, the English language has doubled in size over the last century . It continues to grow ' by 8,500 words a year' and now stands at 1,022,000 words .'  And the speed of this growth is accelerating :  The language has grown by more than 70 per cent since 1950 .... The previous half century it only grew by 10 per cent ...     source Are all these new words in the dictionary ? English does not have an equivalent version of the Académie française. The only official recognition comes with an entry in the  Oxford English Dictionary  (OED). Interestingly much of this new vocabulary has not been formally recognised. Nearly half of the new words are not included in any dictionary and are dubbed lexical "dark matter". They are either slang or invented jargon.       Why does the OED restrict the words it includes? Because there are so many words in English! The OED is already more than three times bigger tha...

When having fun on a computer! Woot is one of the most surprising new entries to the OED. It is used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph (especially in electronic communication. Apparently its popularity derives from online gaming and role play. Oxford Dictionary of English New Oxford American Dictionary

English Language FAQ: The most common spelling errors in English? : "Why are some words so hard to spell? My post for the OUP Global Blog considers recent research into the twenty most misspelt words in Engl..." Practical Spelling (Basics Made Easy) Franklin Electronic Publishers SA-309 Spelling Ace Thesaurus with Merriam-Webster Puzzle solver

The groove on vinyl records, particularly the old 78s rpm jazz records of the 20s and 30s. The depth and width of the groove indicated the speed and beat - something later picked up by early rappers like Grandmaster Flash.  Jazz musicians used 'groove' as a term of appreciation and this later became part of pop music culture - the Beatles were famously fond of the adjective groovy. Much later 'groovy' became one of the catch-phrases Austen Powers, a sign that the word had come to symobolise 1960s fantasies of  personal liberation and free love.

Because the OED tries to reflect the language as spoken and written. English is as Richard Lederer pointed out 'the most democratic language in history'.  To learn about the process by which words are selected see this interview with the OED editor. Oxford Dictionary of English Concise Oxford English Dictionary: 11th Edition Revised 2008 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: Sixth Edition

Not according to millions of student of English as a foreign language! But English does have some 'user friendly features as an OUP lexicographer explains in this short extract from a BBC interview Easy English (ESL)