Sol Steinmetz was a well-known lexicographer and the former editorial director of Random House Reference. He has contributed articles to the Encyclopedia Americana AND The Oxford Companion to the English Language, and has been a consultant to the Encarta World English Dictionary. He was a language consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary. His books include Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning; The Life of Language; The Fascinating Ways Words Are Born, Live & Die; Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms; Youthopia USA; Meshuggenary;The Story of Yiddish in America; and There’s a Word for It: The Explosion of the American Language since 1900.