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Dictionary chief has the last word - retire

11:00am Friday 26th April 2013 in News By Andrew Ffrench, covering Didcot and Wallingford. Call me on 01865 425425

JOHN Simpson doesnt have a favourite word in the English language he loves them all.

He joined the Oxford English Dictionary staff in 1976 and, since becoming chief editor in 1993, 60,000 new words have been added.

Now Mr Simpson, 59, says he needs a break from defining words and will retire from his post at Oxford University Press in Walton Street in October.

People are always asking me what my favourite word is but I dont have one, said the father-of-two, who lived in Wheatley for 25 years until he moved to Cheltenham last year.

Each word is a fascinating object of observation and analysis in its own right.

Its hard to pick out favourites from several decades of lexicography, but you always feel an affinity with the first word you edit and Queen Mum was one.

I remember hunting high and low for early evidence of the expression, only to see the current update project take the date of first use further back to 1954, early in the Queens reign.

Mr Simpson, who lives with wife Hilary, 58, a former adviser to the county councils chief executive, is a big fan of cricket and expects to watch a few Test matches during his retirement.

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Dictionary chief has the last word - retire