David Barnhart

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David K. Barnhart (born 1941) is an American lexicographer [1] who specializes in new words. He's also the founder of Lexik House publishers. Barnhart began his career helping his father, Clarence Barnhart, edit the Thorndike-Barnhart dictionary series. [2] In 1980, he founded Lexik House publishers. Barnhart wrote Neo Words: A Dictionary of the Newest and Most Unusual Words of Our Time (1991), created The Barnhart New-Words Concordance (1994) and its Supplement (2006), and complied Barnhart's Never-finished Political Dictionary of the 21st Century.

Contents

With Allan A. Metcalf, Barnhart wrote America in So Many Words: Words that have shaped America (1997). [3] Barnhart has worked as a teacher, lecturer, and as an expert witness reporting on usage and meaning in English words. He's a past president of the Dictionary Society of North America and the International Linguistic Association. He is a member of the American Dialect Society.

Biography

Barnhart was born about 1941, the son of Clarence Barnhart. [4] He began his career helping his father, Clarence Barnhart, edit the Thorndike-Barnhart dictionary series. [2]

Barnhart began studying for a doctorate in linguistics at NYU, then taught at prep school before working for his father's publishing house. [4]

In 1980, he founded Lexik House Publishers. [4] In the 1980s, Lexik House published:

In 1982, [5] he and his father, began work on The Barnhart Dictionary Companion, a quarterly publication documenting appearance of new words, new meanings and new usages in English. [6] [7] This carries on the tradition of the Barnhart Dictionary of New English series (edited by his father, brother Robert Barnhart, and Sol Steinmetz), which was last published in 2001.

Barnhart wrote Neo Words: A Dictionary of the Newest and Most Unusual Words of Our Time (1991). He created The Barnhart New-Words Concordance (1994) and its Supplement (2006), an index to the words contained in numerous new word dictionaries, which has been updated quarterly since 1994.

With Allan A. Metcalf, he wrote America in So Many Words: Words that have shaped America (1997). [3] He has worked as a teacher, lecturer, and as an expert witness reporting on usage and meaning in English words.

His collection of political words of the last couple of decades was published in December 2016. The title is Barnhart's Never-finished Political Dictionary of the 21st Century and the publisher is Lexik House Publishers (Hyde Park, N.Y.).

Barnhart is a member and past president of the Dictionary Society of North America and the International Linguistic Association. He is a member of the American Dialect Society.

Personal life

Barnhart is married and has two sons. [8]

Works

References

  1. ↑ Safire, William (2007-11-01). The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine. Simon and Schuster. pp. 199–. ISBN   9781416587408 . Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Barnhart, David (2007). "A Calculus for New Words" . Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. 28 (28): 132–138. doi:10.1353/dic.2007.0009 . Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Metcalf, Allan; Barnhart, David K. (13 September 1999). America in So Many Words: Words That Have Shaped America. HarperCollins. ISBN   0547563299 . Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Brown, Marc (1 November 1987). "Men of Many Words" . Suburban People. Tarrytown Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  5. ↑ Harris, David (30 July 1995). "On Top of the Word" . Local News. Putnam Reporter Dispatch. White Plains, New York. p. 3A. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Talk of the Town". The New Yorker. March 18, 1985. p. 39. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 Bernstein, Richard (April 3, 1989). "He Prowls English, Stalking New Words". New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Harris, David (30 July 1995). "On Top of the Word" . Local News. Putnam Reporter Dispatch. White Plains, New York. p. 3A. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
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