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Oxford English Dictionary

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Revision as of 18:09, 2 September 2022 by Mclarenguy22 (talk | contribs)
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is separate to Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE) and Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO).
Adam Latchford was the last ever recipient of the OED prize in Series 83.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a set of twenty volumes of printed dictionaries representing the principal historical dictionary of the English language. It was the main prize awarded to series champions of Countdown up to and including Series 83, after which the prize was axed due to the books being considered out of date.

The prize, worth approximately £4,000, was on display in each series Grand Final. In the final of Series 1, Joyce Cansfield was awarded thirteen volumes. Series 31 champion David Acton refused the prize on the grounds of strict veganism, instead opting for a CD-ROM version. The books were leather-bound until Series 63.

As the OED is a historical dictionary rather than a 'living' dictionary, it is never used for adjudication for the letters games on Countdown (nor the OED website), which has always favoured shorter Oxford resources for word game purposes and television convenience. Historically, the show began using the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COD) before replacing it with a larger book, the Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE), in 2000. Countdown currently uses Oxford Dictionaries Premium (ODP) on a laptop, which also replaced the pencam; ODP is updated annually and contains words than cannot be found in OED nor ODE.

External Links

  • OED website [1]