Lexicographer.
Born in England in 1959, daughter of Royal Air Force officer Gordon Maitland Barber (1925-2007) and teacher Patricia Frances “Pat” Clarke (1926-2021), she came to Winnipeg at the age of eight and attended the University of Winnipeg. Becoming fluent in French, German, and Italian, after graduation she taught English for a year in Rouen, France before moving to Ottawa, then Toronto, to pursue a career in lexicography.
Known as “Canada’s Word Lady,” she was the founding editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. She wrote two best-selling books: Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to do with Pigs and Other Fascinating Facts about the Language from Canada’s Word Lady (2007) and Only in Canada You Say: A Treasury of Canadian Language (2008), and was well-known for her radio spots, lectures, and blogs about the unique aspects of Canadian English. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Winnipeg Alumni Association (2000).
She died at Toronto, Ontario on 24 April 2021 and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery at Hartney.
Obituary [Gordon Maitland Barber], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 August 2007.
Obituary [Patricia Frances Barber], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 January 2021.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 May 2021.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 August 2025
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