Editing Allen Walker Read (section)

=== Other work ===
From 1938 onwards, he worked intermittently on a dictionary of [[British English|Britishisms]], but was never able to complete it during his life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=2002-10-18|title=Allen Read, 96, the 'O.K.' Expert, Is Dead |language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/nyregion/allen-read-96-the-ok-expert-is-dead.html|access-date=2020-11-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2020-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106161349/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/nyregion/allen-read-96-the-ok-expert-is-dead.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During [[World War II]], he did his service with the [[Military Intelligence Division (United States)|Military Intelligence Division]], working on the ''American Military Definition Dictionary'' and ''Military Phrase Books.''<ref name=":1" /> He was a chaired professor at [[Columbia University]] in New York City from 1945 until 1974.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> In 1948, H.L. Mencken wrote that Read <nowiki>''probably knows more about early Americanisms than anyone else on earth.''</nowiki><ref name=":0" />

The origin of "OK", one of the most common English words, had been considered one of English's biggest etymological mysteries, with a number of competing theories.<ref name=":2" /> Read unveiled the actual origin of the word in a series of articles published in ''American Speech'' between 1963 and 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |title=October 24, 2002 – Allen Walker Read / 'O.K.' – 2002-10-23 |url=https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-23-a-2002-10-23-3-1-83111172/117929.html |access-date=2020-11-26 |website=VOA |date=23 October 2002 |language=en |archive-date=2020-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123171634/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-23-a-2002-10-23-3-1-83111172/117929.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This achievement was described as "the pinnacle of his career" to "envious fellow etymologists" by ''The Economist'', but Read considered it just "an agreeable diversion from his main work."<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2002-10-24 |title=Allen Read |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2002/10/24/allen-read |access-date=2022-02-27 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=2018-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221100050/http://www.economist.com/node/1403400 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Read also successfully traced the origins of the words "dixie" and "podunk", and managed to attribute the first use of "the almighty dollar" to [[Washington Irving]]. He wrote the entry for "dictionary" in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica|''Encyclopaedia Britannica'']].<ref name=":0" /> Read's career included studies of euphemisms, [[graffiti]], [[slang]], [[pig Latin]], [[Doublespeak|doubletalk]], and [[Baby talk|adult baby talk]].<ref name=":0" /> He also had a professional interest in folklore and place names; he was a founder of the American Names Society and served as its president in 1969.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> 

Read served as the head of the [[International Linguistic Association]], and also as the President of the [[Semiotic Society of America]] in 1980.<ref name=":0" /> In 1987, Read turned over his work on Britishisms, consisting of more than 100,000 citations, to [[John Algeo]] for completion.<ref name=":3" /> At an advanced age, Read finally completed his doctorate at Oxford, receiving a D.Litt in 1988.<ref name=":3" />