[Ads-l] A quick review of the new OED.com

[Laurence Horn]

One can only hope they come out with an “OED Classic” button we can press.  I find this version user-hostile.  But then I share Calvin Trillin’s view (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/books/review/calvin-trillin-on-the-scariest-word.html <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/books/review/calvin-trillin-on-the-scariest-word.html>) on the scariest word in the language...


I was disappointed when the website of Oxford Dictionaries called off its search for the worst word in the English language before I got a chance to have my say. When the survey was halted — the Oxford folks said that too many people were sending in offensive or insulting words — the word “moist” was in the lead. If a sort of yucky association was the criterion for what the survey officially called “your least favorite” word, I would have gone for “membrane” over “moist.” I can think of some pleasant uses for “moist” — a moist chocolate cake springs to mind — but I never encountered a membrane that didn’t make me shudder.
 
[after consideration of other scary words, including “maintenance”, Trillin settles on the strongest candidate for the prize]
…
And here we come to the word in the English language that I now most dread: “Upgrade.”

Too bad the OED didn’t just moisten their site instead of upgrading it.  

LH

> On Jul 23, 2023, at 1:26 PM, dave at wilton.net <dave at WILTON.NET> wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm still ruminating on it, but after an initial repulsion, it has grown on me. The big difference is that the new format is much more user-friendly on phones and tablets. You can also turn off the tabbed view if you're on a PC to get the entire entry on one page.
> 
> There are some little things that I still don't like about it, but overall I think it's a positive facelift. And the changes are just formatting and cosmetic ones; the data is the same.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2023 12:58pm
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] A quick review of the new OED.com
> 
> 
> 
> I absolutely concur. I hate it.
> 
> But what can I do about it? Write my own dictionary?
> 
> JL
> 
> On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 12:24 PM Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
> wrote:
> 
>> I just logged onto the online OED (via my university
>> subscription to it); I was trying to find the first
>> attestation of the term bikini.
>> 
>> My reaction was mixed. I appreciate now having a way to communicate
>> suggestions to the editors for improvements
>> to existing entries, but I also feel dismay. The previous overall format
>> of the dictionary was transparent and straightforward, whereas the present
>> one calls for special training.
>> 
>> But consulting an item in a dictionary should not call for
>> special training. What was once totally easy now presents challenges, and
>> from my perspective, very unnecessarily.
>> 
>> Gerald Cohen
>> Research specialty: Etymology
>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org