“My head was spinning. I could think of nothing better to calm it down than the Oxford English Dictionary.”

“How come "burbled" gets to be in the Oxford English Dictionary but "tulgy" doesn't? Hm?”

“An end to timidity - the replacement of the philologically tentative by the lexicographically decisive." - on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary”

“I just stood there, looking at her. My head was spinning, my mouth dry, and all I could think about was that I wanted to go someplace safe, someplace I could be alone and okay, and that this was impossible. My old life had changed and my new one was still in progress, altering by the second. There was nothing, nothing to depend on. And why was I surprised?”

“I shook my head, and his eyes traveled up my wall to the ceiling. I could almost see the wheels spinning inside his head. “What are you up to?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.“I’m trying to think of another bet.”

“Don’t you love the Oxford Dictionary? When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything.”