Australian National Dictionary Centre

The Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) at the Australian National University in Canberra is a major centre for lexicographical research in Australia.

[3] In the late 1970s, based at the Australian National University in Canberra, he began research on a specialised work, a dictionary of Australianisms based on historical principles.

After several years of data collection a publishing contract was signed with Oxford University Press (Australia) in 1983, and Ramson and his team began work on the editing process.

The trials and tribulations of this process are outlined in Ramson’s book Lexical Images (OUP, 2005).

The project seeks to find English words and meanings that have originated in Australia, that have a greater currency in Australia than elsewhere, or that have a special significance in Australian history.