Crossbows vs. Longbows

[Sombre]

Originally Posted by MachingunJoeTurbo

@Sombre.

Lol at lexicographers knowing what they're doing. Have you heard about words like "acorn" being removed from the Oxford Junior dictionary? Sorry the definition is still wrong, but that is not your fault so this isn't a flame. Security smiley incoming.

I work at OUP. There's certainly been some hysteria in the media about words being removed, but it is extremely skewed. Probably because they have an audience to pander to and because the truth is less interesting. Still, rather than bleating what you read in a poorly researched article about the Junior Dictionary eroding the language, maybe you should check the facts for yourself.

The Junior Dictionary is designed for very young children, as an introduction to dictionaries. They are expected to already know the majority of the words in the book, adding to their sense of security and familiarity when using it. Clearly the dictionary also has a limit on the number of words it contains. So when the vocabulary of young children changes, as it does constantly, the dictionary must change to reflect this. It isn't like 'monarch', 'bishop', 'acorn, 'psalm' etc were left out as an oversight due to stupidity, or were removed as political correctness gone mad, or because the researchers at OUP Reference division wanted to exert thought control over the next generation. It's an accurate (according to a team of professional linguistic researchers, as opposed to say, you) portrayal of the vocabulary and language needs of very young children in england.

If you look at a list of all the hundreds of words removed and added and you choose a handful selectively based on your political or 'logical' agenda, you can 'prove' just about whatever you want. I would think this was obvious.

For the last time - dictionaries do not DRIVE language, they merely represent and define it. The definition could be inaccurate due to an error somewhere in the process, but since they are representing modern language usage a definition cannot be 'wrong' if it accurately portrays the current use. Which 'fire' for loosing arrows certainly does. Regarding the Junior dictionary, if very young children aren't using pulpit, acorn, psalm etc that's hardly the fault of OUP. We just record it. If your argument is that you know more about the state of language and how to construct a dictionary than the researchers at OUP, then wow. Enjoy your fantasy land.

It's pretty clear now you're a troll, which I will blame you for, because it is your fault. Even so you could at least try to get things halfway correct. That way you wouldn't get 'pwn3d' like a 'n00b' every time you open your mouth. 'LOL '