Editing Eric Partridge

{{Short description|20th-century New Zealand-born lexicographer, editor, and author (1894–1979)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
[[File:Eric Partridge in 1953.jpg|thumb|Partridge in 1953]]
[[File:Eric Partridge 1971A.png|thumb|Partridge in 1971]]

'''Eric Honeywood Partridge''' (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a [[New Zealand]]–[[United Kingdom|British]] [[lexicography|lexicographer]] of the [[English language]], particularly of its [[slang]]. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the [[Royal Army Educational Corps|Army Education Corps]] and the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] correspondence department during [[World War II]].

==Early life==
Partridge was born in the [[Waimata River|Waimata]] Valley, near [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]], on the [[North Island]] of New Zealand<ref name=Crystal2002/> to John Thomas Partridge, a [[Pastoral farming|grazier]], and his wife Ethel Annabella Norris.<ref name=Matthew1997/> In 1908 the family moved to [[Queensland]], [[Australia]],<ref name=Partridge1963/> where he was educated at the [[Toowoomba Grammar School]].<ref name=CurrentBiography1964p314/> He studied classics and then French and English at the [[University of Queensland]].<ref name=Coleman2010/>

During this time Partridge also worked for three years as a schoolteacher before enrolling in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1915 and serving in the Australian infantry during the [[World War I|First World War]],<ref name=Partridge1963p21/> in [[Egypt]], [[Gallipoli campaign|Gallipoli]] and on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]],<ref name=Crystal2002/> before being wounded in the [[Battle of Pozières]].<ref name=Partridge1963p21/> His interest in slang and the "underside" of language is said to date from his wartime experience.<ref>Partridge, E (edited by Paul Beale) (1986) ''A Dictionary of Catch Phrases:from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day''. Routledge (See Preface to the First Edition p. ix).</ref> Partridge returned to university between 1919 and 1921, when he received his BA.<ref name=Partridge1963p21/>

==Career==
After receiving his degree, Partridge became Queensland Travelling Fellow at [[Balliol College, Oxford|Balliol College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]],<ref name=Partridge1963p21/> where he worked on both an MA on eighteenth-century English romantic poetry, and a B.Litt in comparative literature.<ref name=Partridge1963p26/> He subsequently taught in a grammar school in Lancashire for a brief interval, then in the two years beginning September 1925, took lecturing positions at the Universities of [[University of Manchester|Manchester]] and [[University of London|London]].<ref name=Crystal2002/><ref name=Partridge1969/> From 1923, he "found a second home", occupying the same desk (K1) in the [[British Library|British Museum Library]] (as it was then known) for the next fifty years. In 1925 he married Agnes Dora Vye-Parminter, who in 1933 bore a daughter, Rosemary Ethel Honeywood Mann.<ref name=Crystal2002/><ref name=CurrentBiography1964p316/> In 1927 he founded the [[Scholartis Press]], which he managed until it closed in 1931.<ref name=Partridge1963p27/>

During the twenties he wrote fiction under the pseudonym 'Corrie Denison'; ''Glimpses'', a book of stories and sketches, was published by the Scholartis Press in 1928. The Scholartis Press published more than 60 books in these four years,<ref name=Crystal2002/> including ''Songs and Slang of the British Soldier 1914-1918'', which Partridge co-authored with [[John Brophy (writer)|John Brophy]]. From 1932 he commenced writing in earnest.  His next major work on slang, ''Slang Today and Yesterday'', appeared in 1933, and his well-known ''[[Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English]]'' followed in 1937.<ref name=Crystal2002/>

During the [[Second World War]], Partridge served in the [[Royal Army Educational Corps|Army Education Corps]], later transferring to the RAF's correspondence department, before returning to his British Museum desk in 1945.<ref name=Crystal2002/>

Partridge wrote more than forty books on the English language, including well-known works on [[etymology]] and [[slang]]. He also wrote books on [[tennis]], which he played well.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Description of 'Partridge, Eric, Papers of Eric Partridge and Paul Beale relating to English slang, 1974-1999.|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb29-eulms138|access-date=2021-05-25|website=University of Exeter Archives}}</ref> His papers are archived at the [[University of Birmingham]], [[British Library]], [[King's College, Cambridge]], the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]], the [[University of Exeter]], the [[University of San Francisco]], [[Warwickshire]] Record Office, and [[William Salt Library]].

He died in [[Moretonhampstead]], [[Devon]], in 1979, aged 85.

==Selected works==
*''Three Personal Records of the War'' (with [[R. H. Mottram]] and John Easton). Scholartis Press, 1929; republished as ''Three Men's War: The Personal Records of Active Service'' (1930).
*''Songs and Slang of the British Soldier'' (with John Brophy). Scholartis Press, 1931.
* ''A Charm of Words''. New York, Macmillan Co., 1961 (copyright 1960).
* ''A New Testament Word Book: a Glossary''. London, George Routledge & Sons, 1940; republished New York, Books for Libraries Press, 1970.  The 1987 republication by the Christian publisher Barbour & Company of Uhricksville, Ohio as ''The Book of New Testament Word Studies'', with copyright claimed by the publisher, appears to be a copyright violation.
* ''The 'Shaggy Dog' Story''. New York: Philosophical Library, 1954.
* ''A Dictionary of the Underworld''.  London, Macmillan Co., 1949; reprinted with new addenda, New York: Bonanza Books, 1961.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=Nua-gIgsCroC ''From Sanskrit to Brazil: Vignettes and Essays upon Languages'']. Hamish Hamilton, 1952. Reprinted 1969, Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. {{ISBN|0-8369-5055-0}}.
*[https://archive.org/stream/gentleartoflexic00part#page/n5/mode/2up ''The Gentle Art of Lexicography as pursued and experienced by an addict''] (1963), New York: The Macmillan Company.
* ''Here, There and Everywhere''. Hamish Hamilton.
* ''Name into Word''. Secker & Warburg.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=Nm3jbg0JalMC ''A Dictionary of Catch Phrases'']. Routledge & Kegan Paul (UK)/[[Stein and Day]] (US). First published 1977. 2nd edition 1985. Paperback 1986. e-print 2005 {{ISBN|0-203-37995-0}}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=SCOt1oUvzM4C&q=%22Eric+Partridge%22 ''A Dictionary of Clichés'']. Routledge & Kegan Paul. First published 1940. E-print 2005. {{ISBN|0-203-37996-9}}
* ''A Dictionary of Forces' Slang''.
* ''A Dictionary of RAF Slang''. Michael Joseph, 1945; new edition with an introduction by [[Russell Ash]], Pavilion Books, 1990. {{ISBN|978-1-85145-526-3}}
* ''Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang''.
* ''Origins: A Short [[Etymological dictionary|Etymological Dictionary]] of Modern English'' (1958). Reprint: New York: Greenwich House, 1983. {{ISBN|0-517-41425-2}}. Reprint: Random House Value Publishing (1988)
* ''[[A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English]]''. 1st edition: London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1937.
*:2nd edition 1938
*:3rd edition 1949
*:4th edition 1951
*:5th edition in two volumes, supplement much enlarged, 1961. Reprinted in 1 vol. 1963. Adelaide, South Australia: Mary Martin Books.
*:6th edition 1967
*:7th edition 1970
*:8th edition London and New York: Routledge, 1984. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tvRp1whVFUsC&q=dictionary+of+slang Paperback reprint 2002]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=w1bX-BnOdeAC ''Shakespeare's Bawdy'']. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul (1947)/New York, E. P. Dutton & Co. (1948), Reprint: Routledge (1991), {{ISBN|0-415-05076-6}}. Routledge Classics 2001, Hardback {{ISBN|0-415-25553-8}}; Paperback {{ISBN|0-415-25400-0}}.
* ''Slang Today and Yesterday''. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
* ''A Smaller Slang Dictionary''.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=OudW3l2IoPUC ''You Have A Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and its Allies'']. First published 1953 by Hamish Hamilton Ltd. Taylor & Francis, e-print 2005. {{ISBN|0-203-37992-6}}.
* ''Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English''. Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Books. Reprint: W. W. Norton & Company (1997). {{ISBN|0-393-31709-9}}.
* ''Name This Child''. Hamish Hamilton.
* ''Name Your Child''. Evans Bros.
* ''Eric Partridge in His Own Words''. Edited by David Crystal. 1980. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. {{ISBN|0-02-528960-8}}.

As 'Corrie Denison', 
*''Glimpses''. Scholartis Press, 1928.
* "From Two Angles", a long story telling the story of the First World War from two points of view, and including many soldiers' songs, is included in ''A Martial Medley'', Scholartis Press, 1931.

==See also==
*[[Slang dictionary]]

==References and sources==
'''References'''
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Coleman2010>{{cite book |year=2010 |author=Coleman, Julie |chapter=Eric Partridge's ''Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rigul3FIx-0C&q=%22Eric+honeywood+Partridge%22&pg=PA7 |title=A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rigul3FIx-0C&q=%22history+of+cant%22|volume=IV |page=7|place=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956725-6}}</ref>

<ref name=Crystal2002>{{cite book |year=2002 |author=Crystal, David |chapter=Foreword |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvRp1whVFUsC&q=dictionary+of+slang+foreword&pg=PR9 |editor1-last=Partridge |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Beale |editor2-first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvRp1whVFUsC&q=dictionary+of+slang |title=A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: Colloquialisms and Catch Phrases |edition=8th |page=ix |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-06568-2}}</ref>

<ref name=CurrentBiography1964p314>{{cite book |year=1964 |chapter=Partridge's Toowoomba Grammar education |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up4YAAAAIAAJ&q=%22john+thomas+partridge%22 |title=Current Biography Yearbook |page=314|volume=24 |publisher=H.W. Wilson Co }}</ref>

<ref name=CurrentBiography1964p316>Current Biography (1964), [https://books.google.com/books?id=WpQYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Partridge+married+Agnes%22 p. 316.]</ref>

<ref name=Matthew1997>{{cite book |year=1997 |author=Matthew, Colin |chapter=Birth details of Eric Partridge |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnJnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22john+thomas+partridge%22 |title=Brief Lives: Twentieth-century Pen Portraits from the Dictionary of National Biography |page=425 |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198600879 }}</ref>

<ref name=Partridge1963>{{cite book |year=1963 |author=Partridge, Eric |title=The Gentle Art of Lexicography as pursued and experienced by an addict |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/stream/gentleartoflexic00part#page/n5/mode/2up |place=New York |publisher=The Macmillan Company |access-date=31 August 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=Partridge1963p21>Partridge (1963), [https://archive.org/stream/gentleartoflexic00part#page/20/mode/2up p. 21.]</ref>

<ref name=Partridge1963p26>Partridge (1963), [https://archive.org/stream/gentleartoflexic00part#page/26/mode/2up p. 26.]</ref>

<ref name=Partridge1963p27>Partridge (1963), [https://archive.org/stream/gentleartoflexic00part#page/26/mode/2up p. 27.]</ref>

<ref name=Partridge1969>{{cite book |year=1969 |author=Partridge, Eric |chapter=Partridge's Manchester & London lecturing positions |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nua-gIgsCroC&q=eric+partridge+manchester&pg=PA71 |title=From Sanskrit to Brazil: Vignettes and Essays upon Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nua-gIgsCroC |place=Freeport, New York |publisher=Books for Libraries Press |isbn=0-8369-5055-0}}. First published 1952 by Hamish Hamilton.</ref> 
}}
'''Sources'''
*Crystal, D. (1981). ''Eric Partridge in his own words''. New York: Macmillan.
*Serle, Geoffrey (1988), "Partridge, Eric Honeywood (1894–1979)", ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 11, Melbourne University Press.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partridge, Eric}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century lexicographers]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of London]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Manchester]]
[[Category:Australian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British book publishers (people)]]
[[Category:British lexicographers]]
[[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Etymologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Lexicographers of English]]
[[Category:New Zealand lexicographers]]
[[Category:People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Gisborne, New Zealand]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Army Educational Corps soldiers]]
[[Category:Shakespearean scholars]]
[[Category:University of Queensland alumni]]