John E. McIntyre, “A Distinctively American Dictionary” (The Baltimore Sun, Mar. 9, 2012)
The National Endowment for the Humanities threw a reception at the Old Post Office Building in Washington for the publication of the fifth and concluding volume of [The Dictionary of American Regional English]. Joan Houston Hall, the chief editor, and Ben Zimmer, the linguist, spoke about the heroic accomplishment, and family members of the late Frederic Cassidy, the original editor, were present to share in the triumph. …
While the gaudier locutions catch the public eye, Mr. Zimmer pointed out that many of the little things, such as prepositions, will be of immense interest to lexicographers.
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