[Lexicog] stereotypical beliefs and lexicography

[Peter Kirk]

On 22/02/2005 17:06, Patrick Hanks wrote:

> ... However,  I
> WOULD NOT include "nigger in the woodpile", because it is
> offensive as well as rare.
>

We have to remember that one of the main practical functions of a
dictionary is to help ordinary people to understand rare and  obsolete
words which they may come across in reading older written works. And by
that I don't just mean exalted literature like the Bible and
Shakespeare, but also ordinary novels, archived newspapers etc from
times when expressions like the above were in common use and not
considered offensive, at least by their main community of users. If we
expunge such expressions from our dictionaries, for reasons other than
strict rarity, we risk cutting future generations off from proper
understanding of the past.

--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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