Eugene Ehrlich

He was one of the editors of the 'Oxford American Dictionary', published by Oxford University Press in 1980. It was designed as a one-volume American desk dictionary for the U.S. market.

He wrote a series of popular word and phrase books, including 'Amo, Amas, Amat and More' on Latin expressions and 'The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate'. He also produced collections on French and other languages' borrowed phrases.

He spent much of his career teaching in the New York area, notably as a long-time lecturer at Columbia University, while writing and editing reference books. His academic background in English and comparative literature fed directly into his lexicographic work.

The Oxford American Dictionary that Ehrlich helped edit was a compact, single-volume dictionary of current American usage. It is entirely different from the multi-volume 'Oxford English Dictionary', which historically documents English word origins and evolving meanings over centuries.