Paul Dickson (writer)

For the American football player, see Paul Dickson (American football).
Paul Dickson
Dickson in 2009.
Dickson in 2009.
Born (1939-07-30) July 30, 1939 (age 85)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Occupationauthor
Subjectbaseball,
U.S. Military,
word origins and slang
Notable worksThe Bonus Army, Labels for Locals, War Slang
Website
pauldicksonbooks.com

Paul Dickson (born July 30, 1939) is a freelance writer of more than 65 non-fiction books, mostly on American English language, history, and popular culture.[1]

He is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club.[2][3][4] Dickson coined the term "word word".[5]

For his published work on baseball, The Washington Post has described Dickson as "baseball's answer to Noah Webster or, at the very least, William Safire."[6] In May 1979, he appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to promote his book The Official Rules, which detailed the history of Murphy's Law and similar aphorisms. Carson and Dickson spent time sharing similar sayings that they enjoyed.[7]

  1. ^ Paul Dickson (29 September 2014). "Home - Paul Dickson". pauldicksonbooks.com.
  2. ^ "Paul Dickson Biography".
  3. ^ ""A Chat With Paul Dickson", Wordsmith Chat, Sep 26, 2006".
  4. ^ ""Paul Dickson, Washington Journalist", The Globalist". Archived from the original on 2004-12-18.
  5. ^ The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press. 1992. pp. 1127. ISBN 0-19-214183-X.
  6. ^ "BOOK REVIEW: 'The Dickson Baseball Dictionary' - Washington Times". The Washington Times.
  7. ^ "Aaron and Tony Rudnick; Danny Thomas; Paul Dickson". Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. 22 May 1979. NBC.