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January 2010 Update
New Content
Welcome to 2010! In this first update of the new decade, we enhance and expand Oxford Reference Online's language and religion content, and offer brand new OUP content dedicated to Sports Studies. With three new titles – The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, and A Dictionary of Sports Studies – and three new editions – A Dictionary of the Bible, A Dictionary of Popes, and The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms – plus thousands of other updated entries throughout the site, this update is packed full of interesting, useful, and trustworthy information.
New MARC records: Now available to download is a complete set of comprehensive new MARC records. These are generated by Bibliographic Data Services, experts in creation and supply of MARC records, and are compliant with NACO and SACO, and LoC guidelines for MARC for updating databases, and contain LoC and Dewey call numbers, in MARC21 format with MARC8 character encoding.
Premium Collection
NEW TITLES
A Dictionary of Sports Studies, by Alan Tomlinson
First edition
Over 1,100 entries
This is the brand new Dictionary of Sports Studies. It contains over 1,100 clear, concise, and authoritative entries compiled by Professor Alan Tomlinson, a leading expert in the field. Wide-ranging coverage includes the social, political, economical, and cultural theory of sport, as well as entries relating to exercise, preparation, and performance psychology, and key scientific terms, including nutrition and anatomy. It also features biographies of key sportspeople, information on international organizations and institutions, and detailed appendices with lists of sporting events and winners, including the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In addition, there are recommended web links for many entries.
Addressing the need for an A-Z reference guide in the field of sports studies, this dictionary is essential reading for students of sports studies and the related disciplines of leisure and recreation studies, sports science, and physical education. It is also ideal for the general reader with an interest in sport.
Alan Tomlinson is Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton.
The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, by John Ayto and John Simpson
Second edition
Over 6,000 entries
Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney 'abaht' to the American term 'zowie', this is the most authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang is a fascinating and entertaining collection, packed with illustrative quotations and providing full details of origins and dates of first printed use. The text contains expressions from around the English-speaking world such as 'dork' and 'cockamamie' (North America) and 'giggle-house' and 'Jimmy Woodser' (Australia).
John Ayto is a freelance lexicographer and editor of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
John Simpson is Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, edited by Julia Cresswell
Second editon
Over 3,000 entries
Combining both accessibility and authority, The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins describes the origins and development of over 3,000 words and phrases in the English language. The book draws on Oxford's unrivalled dictionary research programme and language monitoring, and relates the fascinating stories behind many of our most curious terms and expressions in order to offer the reader a much more explicit account than can be found in a general English dictionary.
Organized A-Z, the entries include first known use along with examples that illustrate the many faces of the particular word or phrase, from 'handsome' to 'bachelor' and 'cute' to 'baby', from 'pagan' to 'palaver' and 'toff' to 'torpedo'. Also featured are almost 20 special entries that cover expressions common in English but drawn from other languages, such as 'coffee', 'sugar', and 'candy' from Arabic or 'booze', 'brandy', and 'gin' (Dutch).
This absorbing volume is useful for language students and enthusiasts, but also an intriguing read for any person interested in the development of the English language and of language development in general. Includes an extended introduction on the history of the English language.
Julia Cresswell is a freelance lecturer.
NEW EDITIONS
The Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, by John Ayto
Third editon
Over 6,000 entries
Did you know that 'flavour of the month' originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? And did you know that 'off the cuff' refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public? These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in this third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms.
The volume takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich and intriguing language that it is. This major new edition contains entries for over 6,000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. These include a range of recently established idioms such as 'the elephant in the corner', 'go figure', 'like a rat up a drainpipe', 'sex on legs', 'step up to the plate', 'too posh to push', 'a walk in the park', 'win ugly'. This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference.
Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question. For example, did you know that 'taken aback' was adopted from nautical terminology that described a ship unable to move forward because of a strong headwind pressing its sails back against the mast?
John Aytois a freelance lexicographer, editor of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and co-author with John Simpson of The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang.
A Dictionary of the Bible, edited by W. R. F. Browning
Over 2,000 entries
A Dictionary of the Bible is the most acclaimed, accessible, and up-to-date dictionary of its kind. Containing over 2,000 authoritative entries it provides clear and concise information about all of the important places, people, themes, and doctrines of the Bible. Terms range from earthquakes and mice to martyrs and art, and new to this edition are entries on Act of God, Old Testament and New Testament theology, Hanukkah, the Koran, mysticism, and many more.
This dictionary features a detailed bibliography, biographies of Bible scholars, a conversion table of measures, weights, and values, a chronology of important dates in Biblical history, and historical maps (showing Israel in Canaan; the near east in the time of the Assyrian Empire; Palestine under the Herods; the background of the New Testament; Rome and the East).
With lively and informative A-Z entries and an array of useful supplementary material, this dictionary is essential for students and teachers of theology and religious education, and it is an absorbing reference work for all readers of the Bible.
W. R. F. Browning has been a Canon Residentiary of Blackburn Cathedral and of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford. He is now an honorary canon and an honorary priest in West Oxford. He was for thirteen years a lecturer in New Testament Studies at Cuddesdon College, Oxford, and at the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education.
A Dictionary of Popes, edited by J. N. D. Kelly and Michael Walsh
Second edition
This fascinating dictionary gives concise accounts of every officially recognized pope in history, from St Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, as well as all of their irregularly elected rivals, the so-called antipopes. Each pope and antipope's entry covers his family and social background and pre-papal career as well as his activities in office. Also, an appendix provides a detailed discussion and analysis of the tradition that there has been a female pope. This new edition reflects the very latest in papal research and contains additional information in the further reading sections of each entry, making the book an even more useful starting place for research into specific pontiffs.
This is a continuous history of the papacy over almost 2,000 years. It reveals how, for much of that history, spiritual and temporal power have been inextricably mingled in the person of the pope. A fascinating read for students of theology and history, as well as the general reader with an interest in Christian history.
J. N. D. Kelly was a distinguished Church historian and former Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was a Canon of Chichester Cathedral and a fellow of the British Academy; in 1966 he became a member of the Academic Council of the Ecumenical Theological Institute, Jerusalem.
Michael Walsh was for many years Librarian at Heythrop College, University of London, of which he remains a fellow. He has produced a number of books on the history of early Christianity and contemporary Catholicism, as well as several biographical studies of popes and others. He is a regular broadcaster, especially on the papacy.
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