Philip Babcock Gove Explained

Philip Babcock Gove
Birth Date:	27 June 1902
Birth Place:	Concord, New Hampshire, US
Death Place:	Warren, Massachusetts, US
Notable Works:	Webster's Third New International Dictionary
Employer:	G. and C. Merriam Company

Philip Babcock Gove (June 27, 1902–November 16, 1972) was an American lexicographer who was editor-in-chief of the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, published in 1961.

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, he received his A.B. from Dartmouth College, his A.M. from Harvard University, his Ph.D. from Columbia University, and his D.Litt. from Dartmouth. He started working for the G. and C. Merriam Company in 1946. Gove was managing editor of Webster's Third from 1950 to 1952, general editor from 1952 to 1960, and editor-in-chief from 1960 until his retirement in 1967.^[1] Woolfe, Henry Bosley Philip Babcock Gove: 27 June 1902-16 November 1972, American Speech, Vol. 45, No 3/4, pp. 163-67(

Gove's work on Webster's Third was highly controversial for its descriptive rather than proscriptive approach, its minimalist approach to labeling informal or slang terms as such, and the inclusion of swear words with the notable exception of fuck.^[2]

Gove died at his home in Warren, Massachusetts of a heart attack on November 16, 1972, survived by his wife and three children.

References

• Herbert C. Morton. The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and Its Critics. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
• James Sledd and Wilma R. Ebbit, editors. Dictionaries and That Dictionary. Chicago: Scott Foresman, 1962.
• David Skinner. "The Story of Ain't: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever". 2012.

Notes and References

1. (17 November 1972). Dr. Philip B. Gove, 70, Is Dead; Editor of the Webster's Third, The New York Times
2. Web site: Skinner . David . Philip Gove and "Our Word" . The American Scholar . Phi Beta Kappa . 12 November 2023.