Jesse Sheidlower, born August 5, 1968, is an American lexicographer, linguist, and editor whose career has centred on the words that formal dictionaries have historically avoided or underdocumented. He served as Principal North American Editor for the Oxford English Dictionary, presided over the American Dialect Society for the terms 2011–12, and wrote The F-Word, the standard historical dictionary of that single piece of vocabulary and its euphemisms, now in four editions. New York Magazine named him one of the 100 smartest people in New York.
Key facts
- Born: 5 August 1968
- Country: United States
- Occupation: lexicographer; linguist; text editor; programmer
- Education: University of Cambridge; University of Chicago
Early life and education
Sheidlower studied at the University of Chicago, where his original intention was to major in science, with a particular focus on astrophysics. He switched to classics before eventually settling on English, graduating with special honors. Graduate study later took him to the University of Cambridge.
His path into professional lexicography began while he was still in graduate school, when he discovered a minor antedating in the Oxford English Dictionary. That find led him to become a volunteer OED reader, a role that would shape the direction of his professional life more than the marketing position he first held at Random House.
Career at Random House and the OED
Sheidlower joined Random House in a marketing capacity before moving into editorial work. From 1996 to 1999 he held the title of senior editor there, during which he launched a “Word of the Day” internet page that fielded questions about lexicography. He also served as project editor of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, a reference work focused on slang and new words.
In 2002, IBM featured Sheidlower in its ThinkPad advertising campaign as one of a set of luminaries, identifying him in his role as Principal North American Editor for the Oxford English Dictionary. That same OED position had already brought him considerable public attention: The New York Times ran a profile of him on its front page on August 19, 2000, and CBS’s 60 Minutes II devoted a full segment to him in March 2001, reported by Bob Simon.
The F-Word
Sheidlower’s first book, The F-Word, appeared in 1995 from Random House. The book is structured as a historical dictionary of the word “fuck” and the euphemisms that have gathered around it. A second edition followed in 1999, also from Random House.
The fourth edition, published in 2024, pushed back the known history of the word by almost 200 years compared to earlier editions. It also added around 150 new entries, among them “brainfuck,” “fuckton,” “fuck around and find out” (along with the abbreviation “FAFO”), and “zero fucks given,” vocabulary that spread largely through internet-era usage.
Jesse’s Word of the Day
In 1998, Random House published Jesse’s Word of the Day, a compilation of the question-and-answer columns Sheidlower had originated on the language website he created while working there. The book gathered those exchanges into a single reference volume.
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
In January 2021, Sheidlower launched the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction as an independent website, built as an expansion of the OED Citations Project. At launch the site contained approximately 1,800 entries. The site’s typeface, called Sagittarius, was created specifically for it by designer Jonathan Hoefler.
American Dialect Society
Sheidlower served as President of the American Dialect Society for the terms 2011–12, as recorded in the society’s official list of past presidents.
Conferences and public scholarship
In September 2025, Sheidlower delivered a keynote presentation titled “Expletive Deleted: Exclusion Policy in The F-Word” at the conference Profanity: Redefining the Limits, held at the Université d’Artois.
Beyond lexicography, his writing has extended to food coverage for Gourmet and bar reviews for Time Out New York.
The Threesome Tollbooth
Sheidlower is one of two proprietors of the Threesome Tollbooth, a cocktail bar in Williamsburg, New York, co-created with artist N.D. Austin. The bar is fitted into the former supply closet of an Italian restaurant and is large enough for only the bartender and two guests at one time.
Did you know
- Sheidlower began his career at Random House not in an editorial role but in a marketing position, and became a volunteer OED reader after finding a minor antedating of the dictionary while still in graduate school. (wordsmith.org)
- The Threesome Tollbooth bar, which Sheidlower co-manages, is tucked into the former supply closet of an Italian restaurant and is so tiny that multiple patrons have stepped inside and asked “Where’s everyone else?” (nyctourism.com)
- The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction website uses a typeface called Sagittarius, created specifically for it by designer Jonathan Hoefler, whose original typefaces have also appeared on Star Trek: Picard. (infodocket.com)
- As a child Sheidlower intended to major in astrophysics at the University of Chicago, but switched first to classics and then to English; the University of Chicago Magazine described him in a 2001 profile under the headline “Search for meanings: Jesse Sheidlower, AB’89, collects words and their usages for the next incarnation of the Oxford English Dictionary.” (magazine.uchicago.edu)
- Sheidlower is listed as a contributor to the Catalyst open-source Perl web application framework under the handle “jester,” alongside developers such as Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsaker and Marcus Ramberg. (metacpan.org)
- The fourth edition of The F-Word (2024) added around 150 new f-word entries, including “brainfuck,” “fuckton,” “fuck around and find out” (and its abbreviation “FAFO”), and “zero fucks given,” reflecting internet-age language. (jessesword.com)
- Sheidlower has also written about food for Gourmet and reviewed bars for Time Out New York, reflecting interests that eventually led him to co-found and manage the Threesome Tollbooth cocktail bar. (jessesword.com)
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-10-31