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Internet Age Casualties: Printed Dictionary Next on the List?
Next Edition of Oxford English Dictionary May Go Digital-Only

Is the printed dictionary on its way to being the latest casualty of the Internet age?

An Oxford English Dictionary is shown at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York Aug....

An Oxford English Dictionary is shown at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York Aug. 29, 2010. It's been in print for over a century, but in future the Oxford English Dictionary, the authoritative guide to the English language, may only be available online. Oxford University Press, the publisher, said Sunday that burgeoning demand for the dictionary's online version has far outpaced demand for the printed versions.

(Caleb Jones/AP Photo)

Rightly or wrongly, the Internet is already faulted with killing off privacy, grammar and the attention span. This week, linguaphiles learned that the esteemed Oxford English Dictionary might be next on digital technology's hit list.

Nigel Portwood, the chief executive of the Oxford University press, told the U.K.'s The Sunday Times that he didn't think the newest edition will be printed when it comes out in 2020.

"The print dictionary market is just disappearing. It is falling away by tens of percent a year," he said.

Later, the publishing company clarified his position and said that a decision on the printed edition hasn't yet been made. There is still demand for the print version, but interest in the online reference is growing, it said. "People certainly are migrating to the Internet for what normally would have been a print reference book," said Christian Purdy, director of publicity for the Oxford University Press USA...

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