Erin McKean
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Erin McKean | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1971 (age 52–53) |
| Education | University of Chicago(BA,MA) |
| Occupation | Lexicographer |
Erin McKean(born 1971) is an Americanlexicographer.
Early life and education
[edit]McKean was born inCharlotte, North Carolina.[1]She graduated from theUniversity of Chicagowith a BA/MA in Linguistics. As an undergraduate, she worked in a junior capacity on theChicago Assyrian Dictionary.[2]She has since served on the Visiting Committee to the University of Chicago'sRegenstein Library,and she helped organize a dictionary-themed exhibit,The Meaning of Dictionaries,there in 2007.[3][4]
Career
[edit]McKean is a founder of Reverb, which makes the online dictionaryWordnik.[5]She was previously the editor in chief of US Dictionaries for Oxford University Press and Principal Editor ofThe New Oxford American Dictionary,second edition.[6] [7]
McKean is also the editor ofVERBATIM: The Language Quarterly,and edited a collection of work from that publication,Verbatim: From the bawdy to the sublime, the best writing on language for word lovers, grammar mavens, and armchair linguists(Mariner Books, 2001). McKean's novelThe Secret Lives of Dresseswas a best-seller in Australia, and has been optioned for film.[8][9]She writes about dresses in her blog,A Dress A Day.
She wrote frequently for "The Word" column inThe Boston Globe.[10]from 2008 through 2011 and wrote "The Week in Words" forThe Wall Street Journalfrom 2011 through mid-2013.[11]She has also written forThe New York TimesOn Languagecolumn.[12]
She was previously a member of the advisory board of theWikimedia Foundation[13]and is an advisor to Credo Reference.[14]
McKean's 2007 TED talk, "Redefining the Dictionary", was the genesis for the founding of Wordnik.com.[15]She has also spoken at Pop!Tech, Mark Hurst's third annual Gel conference, and Thinking Digital, and gave a Wordnik demo at theAll Things DigitalD8 conference in 2010.[16][17][18][19]McKean sews her own clothes and often makes "stunt dresses" for speeches, including theTetris-themed dress she wore to speak at theWeb 2.0 Summitin 2009.[20]
In 2010, McKean was named an honorary fellow of theSociety for Technical Communication.[21]
McKean has formulated 'McKean's law', also known asMuphry's law:"Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling or typographical error."[22]
"Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female'.", a quote from McKean's blog, A Dress A Day, has been widely shared on social media.[23]Since the original post features a large picture ofDiana Vreeland,the quote has occasionally been misattributed to her.[24]
Books
[edit]- Weird and Wonderful Words(illustrated byRoz Chast,with an introduction bySimon Winchester,Oxford, 2002)[25]
- More Weird and Wonderful Words(illustrated byDanny Shanahan), Oxford, 2003)
- Totally Weird and Wonderful Words(Oxford, 2006)
- That’s Amore(Walker & Company, 2007)
- The Secret Lives of Dresses(Grand Central, 2011)[26]
- Aftercrimes, Geoslavery, and Thermogeddon: Plus 157 More Words From a Lexicographer's Notebook(TED Books, 2011)
- The Hundred Dresses(illustrated byDonna Mehalko,Bloomsbury, 2013)
References
[edit]- ^"Normblog".January 19, 2007.
- ^"University of Chicago Magazine".October 1, 2006.
- ^"Libra: Library Reports and Announcements"(PDF).2006.
- ^"The Chicago Maroon".June 1, 2007.
- ^"Xconomy".March 12, 2013.
- ^"New York Times," Wordsmiths: They Also Serve Who Only Vote on 'Ain't' "".The New York Times.December 23, 2006.
- ^Erin McKean, ed. (May 2005).The New Oxford American Dictionary(2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 2051.ISBN0-19-517077-6.
- ^"If.com.au".May 12, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon April 24, 2014.RetrievedOctober 12,2013.
- ^Caceda, Eden (February 2, 2015)."In Development".Filmink.Archived fromthe originalon September 24, 2015.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
- ^Chillax – If it works like a word, just use it.Boston GlobeAugust 3, 2008
- ^"Wall Street Journal".May 24, 2013.
- ^McKean, Erin (December 17, 2009)."On Language: Redefining Definition".The New York Times.
- ^Wikimedia Foundation contributors (February 26, 2009)."Advisory Board – Wikimedia Foundation".Wikimedia Foundation.RetrievedMarch 20,2009.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^"Credo Reference".Archived fromthe originalon February 14, 2012.RetrievedMay 19,2009.
- ^"TED blog".June 8, 2009.
- ^"Pop!Tech".2006. Archived fromthe originalon June 3, 2016.RetrievedOctober 12,2013.
- ^"Erin McKean at GEL 2006".2006.
- ^"Erin McKean at Thinking Digital 2011".2001.
- ^"D8 Tech Demo: Wordnik".June 3, 2010.
- ^"Wardrobe Wrap of the Web 2.0 Summit".October 29, 2009.
- ^"STC Spotlight: Erin McKean, Honorary Fellow and the Summit's Keynote Speaker".The New York Times.April 9, 2010.
- ^"A word to the wise". (August 12, 2008).The Globe and Mail(Toronto, Canada), pp. A14.
- ^"Erin @ A Dress A Day".
- ^"You don't owe prettiness to anyone".August 12, 2013.
- ^"World Wide Words".December 14, 2002.
- ^"How Erin McKean Sold Her Blog-Based Book".MediaBistro.November 7, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon September 13, 2009.RetrievedMay 19,2009.
External links
[edit]
Media related toErin McKeanat Wikimedia Commons- McKean biographyArchivedJanuary 31, 2018, at theWayback Machineas member of the Wikimedia Advisory Board
- Erin McKeanatTED
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- 1971 births
- American bloggers
- American book editors
- American lexicographers
- Living people
- People from Chicago
- University of Chicago alumni
- Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board members
- American women linguists
- American women bloggers
- Women lexicographers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American women writers