you learn about language, so i think it's the perfect book for word nerds, between mow and me by mary norris, anybody who's interested in books, anyone who's interested in words. it's just a fantastic read. >> host: is mr. simpson in favor of this democratization of language? >> guest: absolutely. i mean, i think one of the things that's great about the memoir is his description of himself coming to oxford as very much an outsider. he was not an oxford or cambridge-trained lexicographer, he wasn't from that class or that world. and realizing the extent to which the dictionary had been shaped by upper middle class readers because, of course, the types of people who have time to read and send in index cards are people who don't necessarily spend a lot of time working. so the dictionary had been shaped by these people who read milton and tennyson and maybe occasionally a middle brow detective novel. but it was very white, very male and very british. he really forces, and this is long before the dictionary starts going online, forces the dictionary into the modern age. he gets interested in maga