Born: February 6, 1894 (Waimata Valley Grisborne, New Zealand)
Died: June 1, 1979 (Moretonhampstead, Devon, England)
Famous For/Known For:
British lexicographer
A Little About Eric Partridge:
Born to John Thomas and Ethel (Norris) Partridge.
Partridge attended local schools in Australia. He won a scholarship to the University of Queensland.
In 1915 Partridge left school to serve in the Australian Imperial Forces as an infantryman during WWI. He served for four years.
In 1919 Partridge returned to the University of Queensland and graduated with a Masters Degree in English Poetry in 1921. Two years later he obtained a degree from Oxford University for comparative literature.
From 1925-1927 Partridge taught at a grammar school and lectured at universities.
At the end of 1927 he decided to leave the teaching world to become a publisher and founded the Scholartis Press in England. Due to the Depression the business failed.
Partridge began working as a freelance writer and lexicographer. He published Slang Today and Yesterday in 1933 and two years later A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.
Partridge once again served in the military, from 1940-1941 in the British Army Education Corps and from 1942-1945 in the Royal Air Force, this time during WW2. His time in the armed forces inspired Songs and Slang of the British Soldier in 1930 and A Dictionary of RAF Slang in 1945.
Partridge wrote over forty books on the English language during his lifetime such as Dictionary of Cliches, You Have A Point There: A Guide To Punctuation and It’s Allies and The Gentle Art of Lexicography as Pursued and Experienced by an Addict.
Eric Partridge died at the age of 85.
Books About/Written by Eric Partridge:
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