Eric Partridge
Eric Partridge (
1894-
1979) was a lexicographer born on the
North Island of
New Zealand. After moving to
Australia in 1905, he studied at the
University of Queensland, and served in the Australian infantry during the
First World War. He then studied at the
University of Oxford, and lectured at the Universities of
Manchester and
London. In 1927 he founded the Scholartis Press, which he managed until it closed in 1931. In 1932 he became a full-time writer, and almost daily occupied the same desk (K1) in the Reading Room of the
British Museum for the next fifty years. He wrote over forty books on the English language, including works on
etymology and several on
slang.
Works
Origins: An etymological dictionary of Modern English (1958)