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Merriam-Webster Launches Open Dictionary
sweganeer writes "Merriam-Webster just released Open Dictionary to better take and share the pulse of language through the Web. Of course, Webster's has long celebrated and conveyed language's evolution - unlike linguistic prescriptivists who fail to grasp that's just what language does; and - where I've compared entries - they've certainly done so in a more consistent, professional fashion than online amateurs have in recent years: might Open Dictionary - in conjunction with Webster's standard Online Dictionary - yield the best of authoritative (top-down) and organic (bottom-up), online lexicography?"
An "Open dictionary"?
Gee. Where have I heard of that before?
Wiktionary.org
So, how long before someone says they should be boycotted becasue they don't promote "family values"
that now SlashDotters will no longer have an excuse for poor spelling in their posts?
When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Rel
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
Yes, but does it contain internet slang? Now that would be useful - the average MSN conversation my sister has contains atleast 30 words I don't recognize and I'm only 21 :P
LINUX ONLINE POKER: Linux Poker
I'm going to make a few points defending prescriptive teaching of language. Although it's absurd to say that there is one right way to speak English (or any other language), and it's also absurd to set down hard and fast rules like "thou shalt only use 'good' as an adjective", saying that one thing is "correct" and another "incorrect", it is important to know how to accurately convey meaning, speak in a way that will not alienate your audience, and get your point across persuasively and effectively. That is what all good prescriptivists advocate.
Le français vous intéresse?
Merriam-Webster?
An on-line dictionary?
Fucking brilliant boys!
- The Kessel run is for nerf herders. I can circumnavigate the entire Central Finite Curve in a lot less than 12 parse
... at least for a laugh.
"Powers. I have them."
I have my chance to push the word I came up with in high school... Geriphilia (n.) - sexual perversion in which the elderly are the preferred sexual object.
You need a dictionary - you spelled "scum-sucking bottom-feeding cocksucker" wrong again. Oh, and you spelled "thief" wrong too.
When you are "gerundding" a verb, checkking to see if you writting it in the correct manner is never a bad thing.
I hate it when I leave my dictionary open. I read on Wikipedia it isn't good for the spine.
really 867993
Karma schkarma
I like how "language evolves" has turned into "language shouldn't even attempt to stay the same." There's a real problem with both extreme views on the issue, and the idea-- and what is borne out in most all languages-- is that there is a conservative section of the language's population which works as a retentive force and another section that works as a changing force. The changing force is always stronger, but the retentive force is still important... it's why we can still read older materials and understand them (although as they get older it gets more and more difficult). That's really valuable. By removing that retention, we run the risk of rending a lot of important writing incomprehensible to most, and at worst having dialects make the jump to separate languages by way of regional syntax.
So yes, language evolves. But the idea that we should throw whatever retention we have out the window because things eventually change is a really, really stupid view.
Let's just talk about the shiny things and let other more formal forums worry about where to put their pronouns.
> Of course, Webster's has long celebrated and conveyed
> language's evolution - unlike linguistic prescriptivists who
> fail to grasp that's just what language does; and - where I've
> compared entries - they've certainly done so in a more
> consistent, professional fashion than online amateurs have in
> recent years: might Open Dictionary - in conjunction with
> Webster's standard Online Dictionary - yield the best of
> authoritative (top-down) and organic (bottom-up), online
> lexicography?"
Tip for the day - no sentence should have 70 words in it.
The idea for an open dictionary has been around since 1860, and in print since the 1920s (I believe).
Take a gander at "The Meaning of Everything" a book by Simon Winchester. It outlines the fascinating story of the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED is THE dictionary by the way: it is a 30+ volume set that sets out to catalogue every word in the English language and is continuously updated.
How do the updates happen? Readers throughout the world read texts and write out definitions on slips that are returned to the OED offices for compilation and review. Think about the enormity of the undertaking back in the Victorian era. It's really an outstanding achievement.
English has never, ever been a prescriptive language. We've never had a council declaring what stays and what leaves the language.
Anyway, read the book and be duly unimpressed by these half-assed efforts for an on-line dictionary. Go to the nearest university and take a look at the full OED in all its glory.
First of all: prescriptive linguistics is not bound to induce linguistic stasis, it can be and has been intended to force a change in a language. This alone makes the issue more one of how much should the government interfere with everyday life, not one of whether government should conserve their state language against "foreign influence", whatever that may be.
Now what strict prescriptivist critics and advocates both fail to grasp: The evolution of a language common to one cultural or sub-cultural group is exclusively driven by the people of that respective group, in the most direct, democratic sense. Ultimately, no number of laws and recommendations will have lasting influence on how a natural every-day language evolves or does not evolve unless they mirror the majority's opinion (in which case the laws have been irrelevant to begin with anyway). Beware the day when that changes, for then "1984" will have come to full reality, because then The Man will have taken control of your thoughts. If you control language, the tool of your thoughts, then all your brains are belong to us, if you so prefer.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
"would that be an American English dictionary with all its perversions or a RestOfTheWorld English dictionary ?"
Well, gee, considering the fact that the dictionary in question is named after the guy who invented American English, I'll give you three guesses.
If you're going to be sarcastic, it helps not to put your foot in your mouth. And if you're goint to be snobbish, it helps to know at least the basics about what you're being stuck-up about.
I have a very dear friend who teaches college level english classes. I have, on more than one occasion, helped her grade papers. Sadly, it generally looks like I've slashed my wrists over the pile of papers by the time I've done. These students do not know the difference between "there", "their", and "they're" and use all of the interchangably. They also do not know the difference between "two", "too", and "to". I have seen 3-page papers that were a single run-on sentence. The only period in the whole paper was on the last page at the end. You should have seen what they did with commas and semi-colons.
When she started failing these students for not being proficient in what is ostensibly their native tongue, she got reprimanded for failing too many of them. Her superiors told her that she must learn to curve the grade so that more of them will pass. Her contention is that if you are not literate, you do not deserve to be in regular college classes. She felt like these students should be in remedial classes. When they threatened to fire her for refusing to change some of her students grades, she quit and went to work at another university. How much good is a college degree if you can pop open a crackerjack box and yank one out?
2 cents,
Queen B
HDGary secures my bank
I'm waiting for the word "Dord" to be added.
*****
Dear Mary,
I yearn for you tragically,
A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
It's good to see some of our most important words are being submitted first.
| Ceci n'est pas une pipe.