The Dictionary of Lost Words(122)

ACCOMMODATE


To adapt, fit, suit or adjust.

Writing can be a crime of passion if the bills don’t get paid and the children starve. Many thanks are due to Angela Hazebroek and Marcus Rolfe for understanding that this book was my number one priority and offering me a job anyway. And to my wonderful colleagues at URPS for ensuring my day job is not only possible, but rewarding and meaningful.





AID


Anything by which assistance is given in performing an operation; anything helpful, a means or material source of help.

I am most grateful to Arts South Australia for a Makers and Presenters grant in 2019. I am also indebted to Varuna, the National Writers’ House, for a Varuna Fellowship and two Alumni residencies in 2019. The opportunity to write in peace, be fed, and have the stimulation of other writers is an enormous privilege.





LOVE


That disposition or state of feeling with regard to a person which (arising from recognition of attractive qualities, from instincts of natural relationship, or from sympathy) manifests itself in solicitude for the welfare of the object, and usually also in delight in his presence and desire for his approval; warm affection, attachment.

To Ma and Pa, who gave me a dictionary when I was young and insisted I use it. Thank you for fostering my curiosity and giving me the means to satisfy it. To Mary McCune, my marvellous mother-outlaw, for always listening to my stories as they develop. And to my sister Nicola, for being everything a sister should be.

Thank you to Aidan and Riley for listening when I explain the world, then challenging me to rethink everything. If I could write you into the dictionary, you would be a simple, uncomplicated variant of love.

And to Shannon, whose attention to detail and fondness for limericks made all the difference. There is no single word that explains what you mean to me, no dictionary meaning that defines how I feel. Thank you for welcoming my writing life into your everyday, and making generous adjustments whenever it needs a little more space. This book, as with everything, is ours.





RESPECT


To treat or regard with deference, esteem, or honour; to feel or show respect for.

Finally, I acknowledge that this book has been written on Kaurna and Peramangk Countries. For millennia, the languages of these first peoples was shared through oral storytelling, and the words they used gave meaning to their landscape, their cultures and their beliefs. While many of these words have been lost to time, others have been found. They are being shared anew.

I pay my respects to the elders of the Kaurna and Peramangk Peoples, past, present and emerging. I acknowledge their stories and their languages, and I have the deepest respect for the meaning of what has been lost.





TIMELINE OF THE

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY



1857 The Unregistered Words Committee of the Philological Society of London calls for a new English Dictionary to succeed Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

1879 James Murray appointed as Editor.

1881 Edith Thompson publishes History of England (Pictorial course for schools) – multiple editions follow as well as adaptations for American and Canadian markets.

1884 ‘A to Ant’ published. It is the first of approx. 125 fascicles.

1885 James and Ada Murray move from London to Oxford, erecting a large corrugated iron shed in the garden of their house. The house is known as Sunnyside. The shed is known as the Scriptorium.

1885 Pillar post box placed outside Sunnyside in recognition of the high volume of mail generated by the Scriptorium.

1887 Henry Bradley appointed as second Editor.

1888 A and B published. It is the first of twelve volumes originally titled A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles.

1901 William Craigie appointed as third Editor.

1901 Bradley and Craigie move into the ‘Dictionary Room’ at the Old Ashmolean.

1901 Bondmaid discovered missing following a letter from a member of the public.

1914 Charles Onions appointed as fourth Editor.

1915 Sir James Murray dies.

1915 Staff and contents of the Scriptorium are moved to the Old Ashmolean.

1928 V to Z published as Volume 12.

1928 150 men gather in London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall to celebrate the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary, seventy-one years after it was proposed. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin presides. Women are not invited, though three are allowed to sit in the balcony and watch the men eat. Edith Thompson is one of them.

1929 Edith Thompson dies aged 81.

1989 Publication of the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.





Staff of the Scriptorium, Oxford. Photographed for The Periodical on 10th July 1915. (Back row) Arthur Maling, Frederick Sweatman, F.A. Yockney.

(Seated) Elsie Murray, Sir James Murray, Rosfrith Murray.

Image reprinted with permission of Oxford University Press.





TIMELINE OF MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS

FEATURED IN THE NOVEL



1894 South Australian Parliament passes the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act. This act grants all adult women (including Aboriginal women) the right to vote and the right to stand for Parliament. It is the first parliament in the world to do so.

1897 National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) formed, led by Millicent Fawcett.