Why I love the Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the help of an insane murderer.

Its creation is tangible proof that an idea should be judged on its merits, not on the person who had the ideas. As a true logophile and voracious reader, its origin story for me is fascinating.

It began in 1879 when a Scotsman named James Murray inadvertently created crowdsourcing.

His project was simple and exceedingly ambitious - to list every single word in the English language. Not the most used, or the top few thousand words, but every word, however obscure. The plan was not just to list then but to define their meaning; when they first appeared, when and how they had been modified over the years.

It meant reading every book ever published in the English language - every word, however esoteric. How to resource such a project?

Murray created and printed a 4-page leaflet appealing for volunteer readers and sent it to newspapers and magazines in Britain, the USA and the colonies. He sent it to bookshops to be inserted in books as they were sold and to be displayed on their counters. He asked readers to note words, what they meant and where they'd first appeared.

He was inundated with replies - over six million contributions - but Murray became dispirited, how could such a task ever be completed? Then in 1881, he began to receive replies in the post from a Dr WC Minor. In each parcel came hundreds of definitions with information about where each word had first appeared, thoroughly researched. The volume, clarity and attention to detail of Dr Minor's replies were astonishing. Over the years, Dr Minor's contributions ran into their thousands.

In a preface to the early volume of the dictionary, James Murray expressed his gratitude to the Doctor:

"Invaluable in enhancing our illustration of the literary history of individual words, phrases and construction have been the unflagging services of Dr WC Minor which have week by week supplied additional quotations for words actually preparing for press."

By 1889 Murray and Dr Minor had been corresponding for eight years without having ever met in person.

One day Dr Justin Windsor, Librarian of Harvard, remarked to Murray "You have given great pleasure to many Americans by speaking as you do in your preface of poor Dr Minor. This is a very painful case."

Murray asked what could be the problem? Clearly only a rich, cultured and educated man with hours of time on his hands could complete such a herculean task.

Amazed, Dr Windsor explained that Dr Minor was a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. He had shot and murdered an innocent man in London whom he believed was one of a gang who came up through the floorboards at night to sexually abuse him. Dr Minor had been diagnosed as quite insane.

It was perhaps his insanity that made him perfectly suited for such a project as the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. He was cultured, educated, obsessive, fixated and had nothing but time on his hands. With his pension from the US army, he had fitted his cell like a library complete with every book ever written in English. His every waking minute was consumed by obsessive reading and notations. The dictionary was his entire life.

That's why I love the Oxford English Dictionary. It's an insane project that may never have been completed without the help of an insane man.

Had Murray known of Dr Minor's history would he have refused his help? Would he have let a madman anywhere near such a scholarly work? Would the OED sit proudly on my bookshelf as it does today?

I keep it as proof that ambitious projects can be achieved with the help and passion and generosity of people....and as a reminder. We are often seduced by posh accents, fancy job titles, big houses and luxury cars. But the quality of an idea does not depend on the source: Strategists, marketers or creatives. An idea should be judged on its merits alone, not on where it came from.