How to read this sentence and get the meaning ?

Question

In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen; although the project

took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was born.

How to read this sentence and get the meaning ?

see the last line ...."although the project

took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was born" ...its pretty awkward and confusing construction.

If i break that up then we get 2 parts :

(a)although the project took more than 60 years to complete

(b)the Oxford English Dictionary was born

although i understand (a) ...but i don't understand how it relates with (b)

does it mean Oxford dictionary was born 60 years ago ?

this is very confusing.

How do i read this sentence and get the intended meaning ?

Answer 1

the "although" can be read as "even though" here. An easier way to have written the sentence would be:

The Oxford English Dictionary was completed more than 60 years after the Philological Society launched its effort on it in 1860. They aimed to make it more comprehensive than any dictionary the world had ever seen.

1) The Philological Society started its work on a dictionary in 1860

2) They wanted it to be more comprehensive than the world had ever seen

3) It took more than 60 years to complete it

4) The result was the Oxford English Dictionary

Answer 2

In my personal opinion, I think they started working on the oxford dictionary 60 years ago because look at the sentence "Although the project TOOK MORE THAN 60 YEARS to complete...." if it takes more than 60 years to complete so we must assume there are more years, but if we use the given information, 60 years. So if we create a time line........0 years(start)----------------------------... +(end) and during the middle line period they are working on the book. So basically the sentence is saying that the project(assuming it is the dictionary) took more than 60 years to be finished...and then the oxford dictionary was born. So they are telling you that it took them more than 60 years of hard work and this is what they got, a dictionary. now if you still dont understand...put it this way, after the word complete we squeeze in a couple words like "and finally" or just something to make it smooth. then you understand right? So basically  its the word choice that is mixing you up. as for the relationship, like i said above....the 60 years connect to the dictionary as a work time. And does it mean that the oxford dictionary was born 60 years ago..well that...it depends...would you call a baby in a womb as born into the world, or when the baby is actually out of the womb....different opinions say different. So you could say when they had the idea and started it , it was born, or you could say when it was completely done, it was born.

NOW YOU MUST REALIZE THAT I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON LITERATURE AND I WOULDNT SUGGEST YOU TURN THIS IN AS AN ASSIGNMENT OR SOMETHING, BUT USE THIS MERELY AS A REFERENCE.

Answer 3

when  it says it was born it means it was finneshed Finlay after 60 years in the making              in other words BORN

Answer 4

it means it took them 60 years to complete the dictionary.

Answer 5

Since they use the word "born," think in terms of a woman giving birth. The birth isn't instantaneous. Labor begins, contractions take place, and after some amount of time, the baby is ejected from the womb into the world.

In this metaphor, the "labor" began in 1860. Words were compiled, edits were made, and printing took place. More than 60 years passed, putting us into the 1920s, and the final work was completed and published.

Answer 6

I can't tell you if it's grammatically wrong, but I got the meaning - even though English is not my first language.

It doesn't mean that this dictionary was born 60 ago but that it *took* 60 years to create it. So it was born in 1920 ... 60 years after the Philological Society launched it's efforts to create it.