The job: Dictionary editor

Fiona McPherson, OED

I'm responsible for additions to the Oxford English Dictionary, working on suggestions for words, finding evidence of their usage and building a definition. We have strict criteria. A word has to be in sustained use for about 10 years and there must be wide-ranging, recorded evidence.

Editors used to rely on people writing in with suggestions and evidence but I have access to facsimiles of old books, manuscripts, newspapers and online resources.

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We are a historical dictionary. This means finding the earliest use of a word and listing that first. It is surprising how far back some terms go. Take "weapons of mass destruction". It was first used in the Archbishop of Canterbury's 1937 Christmas address. So the first definition is of a weapon intended for widespread harm. The meaning associated with biological warfare is listed after that.

The favourite word that I've worked on is "mondegreen", which means a word that is misheard or misunderstood. It's based on a Scottish ballad called "The Bonnie Earl of Murray". The lyrics say they slayed the Earl of Murray "and laid him on the green" but it was commonly misheard as "and Lady Mondegreen".