A "Question of Questionable Compounds"? Phrasal verbs in OED1

Conference item

Phrasal verbs are notoriously problematic for lexicographers. One difficult decision is whether to define only idiomatic combinations (such as fall out meaning 'disagree') or to define transparent ones as well (such as fall out in a sentence like 'the bird fell out of the tree', where fall and out retain their primary senses). Johnson was the first English lexicographer to address this problem, suggesting in his Preface that transparent combinations need not be defined; but in practice he ...

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Authors: Wild, K

• Alternative title: Presented at Phraseology session
• Publication status: Not published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Language: English
• Keywords: Oxford English Dictionary
• Subjects: English Language and Literature