The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form

The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form (The OEDILF) is an open collaborative project to compile an English dictionary whose entries take the form of limericks.^[1][2][3] The project was originally called the "Oxford English Dictionary in Limerick Form," but the name was changed after the OED's legal department advised against it. The site, launched in May 2004, has attracted over 2,260 writers from around the world. The project has amassed more than 120,275 limericks. The project progresses alphabetically and is currently accepting limericks on words beginning with the letters Aa- through Ik-.

In May 2023, the estimated date of completion of The OEDILF was 3 November 2063. This will be a "first edition", a first pass through words in the English language. Work will move on to limericks for words that were skipped in the first pass and for words that were coined during the writing of the first edition.

The OEDILF has been featured on National Public Radio in the United States, on BBC Radio 4 in the UK, on CBC radio in Canada, and in the pages of the Washington Post, the Glasgow Herald, and various other newspapers. It was also named one of PC Magazine's Top 99 Undiscovered Websites of 2006.

The project was initiated in 2004 by Chris J. Strolin. With the assistance of contributors, by May 2023 the project had amassed more than 120,275 limericks. Strolin has set a personal goal of writing at least one limerick per day, and by May 2023 he had created 10,005 limericks.^[4] The project's most prolific writer has 11,651 limericks, 25 others have written more than 1,000, and the contributions of some 150 other "OEDILFers" range from 100 to 900 limericks each. Many have written a handful, and new authors are welcome.

These examples of limericks will give you an idea about how words are used and defined. Some are funny. Others are there just to be able to define or use a word.

Here's the very first limerick written for OEDILF,^[5] written by Chris J. Strolin for the word "a". Along with the limerick is an "author's note". Many limericks have an author's note.

       The very first word here is a.
       It's used with a noun to convey
       A singular notion
       Like "a duck" or "a potion"
       Or top notch as when used in "Grade A."

       This limerick, written well before the official 10 May 2004 kick-off
       of The OEDILF Project, and certainly not one of our best,
       was the first piece ever specifically written for The OEDILF
       way back when all this was nothing more than a running joke.

More examples of limericks will be placed here.

• The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
• PC Magazine's Top 99 Undiscovered Websites of 2006
• The Herald, Glasgow, 20 January 2007
• Word of Mouth, BBC Radio 4, 9 May 2006
• Weekend Edition, NPR, 25 December 2004
• Washington Post Style Invitational contests in August 2004, August 2005, August 2006, August 2007 August 2008
• As it Happens CBC Radio interview, 23 December 2008