[Lexicog] archaic entries

[John Roberts]

David Tuggy said:
> Anyhow, this proves that when we use the categories we'd better define
> pretty carefully what we mean.

As far as I can see, that is exactly what lexicographers do not do. Looking 
at my English dictionaries they typically have a guide to the use of the 
dictionary, a pronunciation key and a list of abbreviations of technical 
terms, where you might find "arch" and "obs". However, none define what they 
mean by these terms. So this leads to confusion, as Wayne has shown us. :-)

I notice that my most recently published dictionary, Collins English 
Dictionary (2005), does not list "archaic" or "obsolete" in its list of 
abbreviations. They seem to prefer more descriptive accounts of usage, such 
as "hardly ever used" or "old-fashioned". But I see that "perchance" is 
described as "archaic or poetic".

To me this is very ironic. Here we have lexicographers whose sole purpose in 
life is to define the meanings of words, but they don't define the meanings 
of their own technical terms. Maybe they think that would be too pedantic 
for the average user of an English dictionary.

John Robertss




 
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