There was a time, back in the 1950s, when the dictionary of choice was Webster's Second International Dictionary. It was used throughout the worlds of elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, journalism, and publishing because it was considered the ultimate source for "correct" spellings. Then, in 1961, something revolutionary happened. Merriam-Webster decided to issue a complete revision of their big dictionary, making one important change to the manner in which words were spelled and thus included in the new edition, the Third International. Rather than continuing to be the arbiter of "correctness" in spelling, they decided to include current usage and spelling. This meant that words people used every day were now spelled in the most common, recurring way rather than any "correct" way.
When I started working as an editorial assistant for a magazine in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1960s, the reporters and copy editors assured me they would have nothing to do with "that thing." So they clung to the second edition, even as the pages became worn and tattered. For years, The New York Times refused to use the third edition and only gave in to it when they couldn't find any more second editions in good enough shape to be used. They wrote a news article about the change, so important did they consider it.
These very large dictionaries are the ones that need their own special table, something like a podium. They are meant to stay open rather than closed, to preserve the binding. They weigh many pounds. (I actually use mine to press leaves in the fall, it's that durable and that heavy.)
Obviously they aren't going to release a new edition of this book every year. It would be far too cumbersome and expensive, and no one would buy it. Mine cost $99 when I got it in the mid-1990s. So what they do is publish a smaller dictionary with all the words in current use with spelling and capitalization given as they decide it should be. So words like "blog," which wouldn't have been in any dictionary in the 1990s, will now be in their most recent small dictionary, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. Every time there's a new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary, it contains the most up-to-date information about words in current use and the way to spell and whether or not to cap the first letter of them. If you want to learn the newest words, this is your master source. But be advised, spellings change with each edition, so the word "chick-pea," which came up in a lot of cookbooks, is now "chickpea."
As a copy editor and proofreader, I must have both. I recently came across a compound word I had never heard of, "niddy noddy." (A compound word is a term made from at least two words, sometimes connected with a hyphen, sometimes not.) The author of the book had used a hyphen in the word, and since I'd never heard of a niddy noddy, I looked it up in the Collegiate. No big surprise; it wasn't there. So I went to "the big guy," as I call my Third International, and there it was, with no hyphen. It was an exciting moment. What is a niddy noddy? In the sense this author used it, she meant a hand reel for yarn. It also means to nod to and fro.
This adventure is what I like about dictionaries. I was never a champion speller like my ex-husband or my friend Trent. Since I have ADD, when I was younger I used to make up spellings of words I'd heard or thought I'd heard. That's what kids with ADD do. One of my college roommates told me she thought I was really well-read and cultured until she figured out one day that I made up a lot of words to sound like other words. Exposed! So for someone like me, the dictionary came to be indispensable.
I remember kids in school complaining that if you didn't know how to spell a word, how could you look it up in the dictionary? What was the point? Here's the answer, from one who went through the process herself: you look up what you think the word is spelled like, then you read dictionary entries until you find the right spelling! Almost every time I do this, I not only find my word, but I find unusual words I've never heard of before. It's actually fun, mostly because some of the words you find are just plain odd. I have a little component in me that likes odd words, like niddy noddy, so I remember them. Since I'm not a weaver, I'll probably never have occasion to use it, but should I become one, well, there it is. And I can probably google it (note use of Google as a verb) and find places that sell niddy noddies. What could be more fun?
If you are serious about writing, you need at the very least, the latest edition of the Collegiate. Other companies use "Webster's" in titling their dictionaries, but they may not be published by Merriam-Webster, so check the title page carefully to see who published the book. Some people think highly of the Oxford dictionary, which is usually published in England. It is rumored to have every word in the English language, as I recall, but in the United States, it is generally not used by professional organizations. It's an interesting curiosity for word lovers, but I confess, I've never owned a copy. Also recall that the English still use the Frenchified endings for certain words, like colour, which were dropped from American usage a long time ago. There are many differences between American and British usage that I won't go into now, just be advised they continue to cause confusion for readers everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment