Oxford English Dictionary needs Sci-Fi Help

Posted in Tidbits on December 26, 2001

The Oxford English Dictionary has started a pilot project looking for antedatings of common science fiction (SF) terms. They are enlisting volunteers to help gain enough material so that they might be able to include the terms in the next revision.


The OED aims to include all words that are frequently used in any field, and attempts to find the earliest example of every sense of every word it includes. For SF the OED needs earlier examples of terms it already includes, early examples of terms that have been slated for future inclusion, and any examples of terms that have not yet caught the editors’ attention but are common in SF. This page shows the words they have already, and the types of things they are looking for.