news article on AHD4

[James A. Landau]

from URL <A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/06/30/new.dictionary.ap/index.html">
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/06/30/new.dictionary.ap/index.html</A>

before quoting the article (hopefully I've removed the non-ASCII stuff) I'd 
like to mention that I ordered my copy of the M-W 11th Collegiate through my 
local bookstore last January and I just got a call from the bookstore that it 
arrived.  So I may be the first ADS-L member to order MWCD11 and the last to get 
it!

a note on the following---the term "osculating" is currently used in the 
branch of math called "differential geometry" to mean two curves that meet 
("kiss") in a particular way.
<begin quote>

Defining the times

Present and past examined in two new dictionaries


In this story: 

<A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/09/14/ah.dictionary/#1">Many new words 'fizzlers'</A>

<A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/09/14/ah.dictionary/#2">Walking through 'The Word Museum'</A>

<A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/09/14/ah.dictionary/#3">Deosculating and cybersex</A>
 

    
By Jamie Allen
CNN.com Senior Writer

(CNN) -- In case you're so caught up in this Internet generation that you use 
words like "netiquette" and "digerati" in conversation -- and you can't 
remember a time when you didn't -- here's a reminder: A lot has changed in the last 
five years. 

Fathom, for instance, a dictionary that doesn't have "dot-com" in it. Can you 
imagine? 

You don't have to imagine, actually. Just read the paperback third edition of 
"The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," which came out in 
1995. It was, as most dictionaries are, reflective of our culture -- and 
computer-related terms were still downloading from 28K modems to daily language. 

 CNN's Garrick Utley looks at how new words go legit in the dictionary

    
Q
    
    
 Background:    
These are among the new terms in the new American Heritage Dictionary: 

buyback
dark matter
digerati
dot-com
erectile dysfunction
face time
family leave
Bill Gates
homeschool
poetry slam
wannabe
xenotransplant


    
    
    
The good news is, a fourth edition of American Heritage from Houghton Mifflin 
is now on shelves, and its editors have solidified cyber-words into real 
print, justifying their existence in the pages of the respected dictionary. 

Like "dot-com." 

" 'Dot-com' seems like a very widely used word now and everybody likes it," 
says Joseph Pickett, executive editor of the new American Heritage. "It's 
always in the newspapers. But about a year and half ago, 'dot-com' was just sort of 
coming on. 

"It was actually one of the last words we entered into our database," he 
admits. "It was one of these words that our editor who handles computer science 
stuff said, 'Hey, we should probably put this in. It looks like it's going to be 
a big word.' " 

Many new words 'fizzlers'

They were right. But their cautious approach is commendable, particularly in 
an age when new words, phrases and numbers/letters -- B2B, anyone? -- spring 
from the mouths of overzealous Net-heads in conference rooms across America. 

"A lot of new words that come up are fizzlers," Pickett says. "They evaporate 
after a couple of months. So usually we're skeptical and we like it to 
develop a track record of usage before we put it in, because we don't want to load 
the book up with a lot of trendy junk." 

Techno-jargon not only fed the content of the dictionary, says Pickett. 
"Technology really influenced the way we worked in this product." 

    
The new American Heritage Dictionary boasts color pictures, usage notes, 
charts and histories to break up the lists of definitions on every page      
    
For the third edition, the editors were still working on file cards that were 
stored in (real) file cabinets. For the latest edition, they converted their 
list of words to a database accessible over computer network. E-mail also 
played an important role in debating the merits, usage and pronunciation of words, 
old and new. 

The result is the most colorful, comprehensive word compendium yet from 
American Heritage. About 10,000 new terms have been added, including new 
biographical entries on Bill Gates, Wayne Gretzky and Patsy Cline. Color pictures adorn 
each page. Usage notes, charts, and word histories break up the lists of 
definitions. 

But it's the Net definitions that are on the tip of Pickett's tongue. His 
favorite new word is "digerati": people who are knowledgeable about digital 
technologies such as computer programming and design, according to the dictionary. 

"That's a nice word," he says. "It's a clever coinage, a blend of two words. 
Another one I like is 'netizen.' " 

Walking through 'The Word Museum'

But for those who long for the old days -- the really, really old days, when 
technology, in fact, was still relegated to non-electrical inventions -- 
there's a new paperback out called "The Word Museum" (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster). 
Author Jeffrey Kacirk calls his book "a dictionary of archaic words." 

"I'm a pretty old-fashioned person," says Kacirk, a chiropractor who, when 
he's not cracking backs, has spent 15 years digging up old utterances. "I 
wouldn't consider myself on the cutting edge. I certainly use a computer, but I'm 
not up to date on the latest technology." 

His book, in fact, is filled with words that are never used in modern 
English. Kacirk says his collection, culled from old texts, gives readers a window 
into the past. 

"A lot of times what a word is to me is not just a word, but often a way of 
seeing a whole little side of social life," he says. 

For instance, there's the old word "corsned." Definition, according to 
Kacirk: a piece of "ordeal bread" that could be eaten by suspects in a crime, 
thereby clearing them of charges. 

Perhaps many a "laced-mutton" ate corsned. A laced-mutton, you see, is what 
some people used to call a prostitute. If that makes you laugh, you might be a 
"flizzy," which once was the term for someone who laughed at little, according 
to "Word Museum." 

Deosculating and cybersex

 Another old term is "deosculation," or the act of kissing. Kacirk 
understands why words like this are no longer used. 

" 'Kiss' is a lot easier to use than 'deosculate,' " he says. "It sounds like 
something a veterinarian would do. It just doesn't sound like something you'd 
want to say to somebody -- 'Deosculate me, you fool!' " 

Perhaps deosculate's cousin can be found in the word "cybersex," which showed 
up this year in the American Heritage Dictionary. 

"We had a lively debate about that was," says Pickett. "What do you say? What 
exactly is involved and how extensively detailed do you want to be? Those are 
delicate matters." 

"What a dictionary is supposed to do is give you an answer to a question 
without, you know, providing more detail than necessary," he says. 

A dictionary is also "a lifelong learning tool," says Pickett. "It's 
fundamental to your being able to understand the world around you. It's really 
important that children be taught how to use a dictionary. It's like riding a 
bicycle. Once you learn how to use a dictionary, it becomes a very natural thing to 
you." 
<end quote>