Absurd Entries in the OED: An Introduction To Ammon Shea : OUPblog

This is a fun little article written by someone who just spent a year of his life reading the Oxford English Dictionary.

All dictionaries have mistakes…. The OED is certainly not exempt from this immutable aspect of lexicography – it does have errors, although I like to think that it has less than its fair share. As the entire thing is now being edited I’ve seen those few errors that I noted disappearing from its text. I don’t begrudge the editors their desire to improve the dictionary, and I’m happy to see the errors removed. But there is another type of entry that is also being edited out, and although it makes sense to continue with these removals, I’m saddened to see them go. I am referring to the Absurd Entries.