Oxford Dictionary's Ten-Year Prediction

In the mid-19th century, Britain’s Philological Society made an optimistic prediction that its new Oxford English Dictionary would take about 10 years to complete. The work quickly proved far more complex, as editors tried to capture every word, meaning, and historical usage in the English language. Twenty-seven years into the project, they had only managed to reach the word "ant." Overall, it took more than 70 years to finish the first edition.

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