About this blog

Words: we use them continuously. We speak, read, write, text..all without considering the words themselves. But that's understandable; words don't exist, you know, really exist. Or do they? 

In late 2012, I read a newspaper article about "omnishambles" being named word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary. It made me speculate on how this would be receved by other words if they were sentient beings. What petty rivalries would it ignite? Would we see tears and platitudes at the awards ceremony? Would another word air its grievances at the arrival of this upstart word at the top table?

I began to imagine a world populated by words who, in general, behave in accordance with their name. In Word Watching, the Oxford English Dictionary is housed in a place called Wordsdrow and the words contained within it are sentient beings. Word Watching follows a group of these words and charts their rivalries, passions and pursuits.

A separate page on the blog contains a short glossary of some of the terminology used. It may help new joiners or act as an aide-memoire. Episodes will be posted at (usually) weekly intervals. 

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