March 3, 2013

FOQs [Frequency of Quotation]

Winston Churchill is the 955th most frequently quoted source in the Oxford English Dictionary [OED] with 510 quotations altogether.  For each entry in the OED, the editors provide examples of word usage through the centuries to illustrate the meanings that words have taken on or lost and when.  The Bible and Shakespeare understandably lead Churchill in FOQ, but what are the other 953?

A sampling of Churchill writing at its best is provided in Sir Martin Gilbert’s most recent work Churchill The Power of Words [De Capo, 2012] and reviewed in Finest Hour # 156. Gilbert uses excerpts from Churchill” speeches and writings to tell the great man’s life in his own words. Highly recommend!