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Allen Walker Read

20th Century

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Allen Walker Read (1906-2002) was a preeminent American linguist and lexicographer, renowned for his exhaustive, empirical research into the history and usage of American English. A leading descriptive linguist, he meticulously documented the origins and evolution of words, phrases, and idiomatic expressions, most famously tracing the etymology of "O.K." to its earliest attestations.

LinguisticsEtymology

WORKS

The Making of a Lexicographer: Notes on an Inchoate Project
Paretic as a Term of Abuse
The First Appearance of O.K.
America's Unwritten Language
Noah Webster's Debt to Samuel Johnson
Lexical Evidence from Missionary Reports
The Spelling of 'Amerind'

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