''The Petroleum Dictionary'' is a dictionary covering terms used in the

American oil industry Petroleum has been a major industry in the United States since shortly after the oil discovery in the Oil Creek area of Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. The industry includes exploration, production, processing (refining), transportati ...

. It was compiled by Lalia Phipps Boone and was first published by the

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...

in 1952.

Overview

''The Petroleum Dictionary'' contains short definitions for around 6,000 terms used in the oil industry in America, with a particular focus on

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

. It is intended as a record of the history of these colloquialisms, rather than a reference work for individuals in the petroleum industry.

Reception

Writing in the ''

Journal of Geology ''The Journal of Geology'' publishes research on geology, geophysics, geochemistry, sedimentology, geomorphology, petrology, plate tectonics, volcanology, structural geology, mineralogy, and planetary sciences. Its content ranges from planetary evo ...

'', G. Frederick Shepherd from the General American Oil Company of Texas commented on the incomplete nature of the dictionary, describing it as "an excellent start...but not the end point". As an example, he highlighted the fact that it contains only 68 of the 573 abbreviations listed by Rinehart Oil News Company in a guide to language used in oil reports. He attributed these omissions partly to the fact that the work underwent more detailed reviewing by language specialists rather than industry technicians. Shepherd, however, did praise Boone for her detailed and interesting research into the history of words, and her inclusion of a number of

euphemisms A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

, which made the dictionary "remarkable for its freshness and occasional spice". Maurice Merrill, comparing the Dictionary with a similar work entitled ''Manual of Oil and Gas Terms'', noted the absence of legal terms in Boone's work, suggesting that for individuals within the oil industry, the ''Manual of Oil and Gas Terms'' was a preferable reference work. In the ''

Southwestern Historical Quarterly The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...

'', reviewer David Donoghue highlighted several "errors of the inexcusable variety", and suggested that the dictionary had "little to offer" to the "oil fielder who is seriously interested in what makes the business go".

References

External links

Full text of ''The Petroleum Dictionary''
at

The Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petroleum Dictionary 1952 non-fiction books Books about petroleum English dictionaries Petroleum industry