Language Lounge
A Monthly Column for Word Lovers
Harmless Drudgery and its Antidote
lex·i·cog·ra·pher noun a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge
-Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755
Every two years at about this time, an air of breathless anticipation descends on the Loungeurs. We consult the calendar frequently, obsess endlessly about minor details of expression, and even pause as we go down the aisle in the supermarket where they stock Grecian Formula. This can all mean only one thing: the biennial conference of the Dictionary Society of North America is on the horizon. When it arrives, we all depart en masse and spend a delightful three days, hobnobbing with our colleagues from the Anglosphere and beyond while engaging in real-time, hands-on, no-holds-barred action lexicography.
To appreciate the singularity of this event, you have to get your mind around the sharp contrast of conference conviviality with the day-to-day humdrum existence of the average lexicographer. At the conference, we actually get elbow to elbow with folks like us and talk about defs, prons, and etys (that's lexspeak for definitions, pronunciations, and etymologies). We get to listen to papers on aspects of lexicography in languages as diverse as Russian, Sanskrit, Romanian, and Basque (not to mention English). We stand face to face with people whose eyes don't glaze over when you tell them you're a lexicographer!
The DSNA conference experience, happily, is available to all. The lexicographer experience, ______________ly (fill in with adverb of your choice) is available to only a few, but this month, as a gesture to the conference, we wanted to give Lounge visitors a flavor of what the actual work of lexicography is like.
These days, being a lexicographer is mostly about sitting at a computer monitor, often in the seclusion of one's home, and working with a corpus - that is, a collection of text organized with the miracle of modern SGML or XML tagging. This allows for easy access to particulars of the corpus's content, sliced and diced in any way you please. You can't write a credible dictionary today without a corpus, so we lexicographers spend a good deal of our time poring over examples of words in context, taken from samples of written language and transcripts of spoken language.
How's it done? Since there's a vestige of spring in the air still, let's look at some examples of the word bud: in a completely raw form, representing every possible part of speech and inflection. Here's a sample of bud in KWIC format (that's an initialism for Key Word in Context). This is where the lexicographer's work begins.
1. they heard other things . 'Meanings budded , flowered and died . If Ern Malley was 2. eye on . He had several peonies , and the buds were literally covered in ants . If they 3. The constable sighed , " All right , bud , it 's your funeral . "The older 4. said , " No worries you still have your buds Gia . " "BEST FRIENDS !" she yelled 5. ossoms . Dogen would watch the plum blossom budding in early spring . He would gaze at them 6. can still give you a run for your money , bud . So , race me or not ? " Victor 's face 7. plant reached up and out and branched and budded . A tree with a trunk the rich brown of 8. Ukraine 's revival is nipped right in the bud , and Luca Toni has finally got his first 9. destroys friendships . "While the budding singer 's self-titled CD features a cover 10. and serious ." Good job in there , bud , " James said to Slash ." You handled 11. about him and the plum tree was blooming , buds of white and lavender and pink sprawling 12. day watching ESPN with a beer gut and a Bud Lite at age 40 . But even for an apathetic 13. dary buds ; and development of coenosteum . Budding in the " axial " group is infrequent and 14. philosophy , and it needs nipping in the bud .Joe Kaplinsky Down with catastrophism 15. Of coarse all the credit goes to her best bud Lacey Green who was her lifelong inspiration 16. " You just keep telling yourself that , Bud , " Cally commented sarcastically before 17. 's just taller and in addition there are buds on the tree . The Mongolia tree seems to 18. winged with densely branched and freshly budded blueberry bushes , forms a private niche 19. table see a number of lavender-tinted buds on the plant , seemingly ready to burst 20. from a second ? " she held up the wilted bud and crushed it in her palm , scattering 21. her gentle attack on him , a smile slowly budded on his face before he nodded his head . 22. nipping [ anti-social behaviour ] in the bud , before these kids start getting Asbos First 23. vascular cambiums. For successful chip budding , you must have :Figure 1 . Chip 24. ked out a rusty A , but it still made it . Bud , the drummer , and Diesel looked my way 25. stood up and looked down . " Your short , bud ! And I do n't think there 's much TO look 26. Middle Eastern . It is a vigorous vine that buds conveniently late for regions prone to 27. ipped what looked a promising attack in the bud .A lull . " Good God , " blasphemes 28. lationship was what it was . A beginning of budding , a lesson to be learnt and of course , 29. , crouching over his body . " Wake up , bud , " his brown eyes flickered open and focused 30. rose from the ground , glinting with new buds in the light of the thousands of stars 31. $ 40 - 60m for an official sponsorship . Bud is cheerfully exploiting the popular image 32. n't crying yet , but you could see tears budding in his still dangerously angry and hurt 33. ornate crown that was there . Gold lotus buds connected little lotus flowers , and went 34. time was right . " Brian replied . " Sorry bud , but only one of us is leaving this hut 35. . It looked like some seed that had just budded . All along the pod were wooded catwalks 36. did n't see any way a relationship could bud between those two Perhaps there 37. ended with the recent arrests . For budding suicide bombers all roads seem to lead 38. - you 've got three minutes before some budding romance takes you as a sign to get busy 39. myriad civilisations before them , both the budding and the wised and prosperous , had long 40. with Espresso Tales . An inspiration to budding writers everywhere after taking up writing 41. sitting there were you and one of Brad 's ' buds ' , Craig . " Hi , " you said to him giving 42. Branches and plants without flowers had buds that looked ready to burst at any time 43. down at the corpse and frowned . " Sorry , bud . "But there was n't anything more 44. viticultural practices Vines are grafted or budded to take advantage of the desirable properties 45. culture in hot , dry , windy vineyards . It buds early , can be prone to coulure and , in 46. the bartender smiled at me ." Hey bud , that your dog ? " he asked me and I looked 47. ame time in the games . That is no help to budding tactical masters . Gordon Ross of Leeds 48. an undisputed gold medallist . Good job bud , you managed to destroy an old man - well 49. lobbying for a promotion , then he was best buds with everyone . Why ? Dunno . My assumption 50. ie.com .Besides being a platform for budding filmmakers , nuurrie.com promises to be 51. ." Is my son all right ? " Marion budded in , pushing her way to the front of the 52. who will have to display their skills as a budding politician , will be quizzed by Brocklebank 53. Coby to Ty to the coffee table where two Bud Lite bottles sat , " You guys were drinking 54. , and attracted him like the sun drew a budding wildflower , but he could n't understand 55. away from River , he felt a devious smile bud on his face ." More than ever , 56. atrick was sketching his grandpa , he was a budding artist and exceptionally good at it . Leah 57. are three guys , three girls , and three budding romances in one dorm ?Long red hair 58. son was almost murdered ? " Another woman budded in , pushing her way in front of the group 59. k blue . And of course he had his ear buds in . A few days ago I almost told him that 60. in spring .' Irish Dusk ' : salmon buds open clear rose pink November to May . 61. Depth of planting - Modern hybrid roses are budded on special rootstocks . The point where 62. the first thing , it seemed all her taste buds had been burned off at birth because she 63. " She counters . " Keeping the taste buds satisfied . "My mouth twists . I 64. said , " No worries you still have your buds Gia . " " Best Friends ! " yelled 65. and Being Bored . He agrees that too many budding film-makers feel unnecessarily constrained 66. briefly before turning to Austin . " Hey , bud . "Lightning crackled behind Austin 67. within I could see tupelo and buckthorn budding ,Within each of the book 's sections 68. . Inspired by television shows in which budding developers reap large financial rewards 69. at the idea of keeping her and Isaiah 's budding relationship a secret . They had finally 70. cried . And he drank another bottle of that bud light he owned so much of , and these were 71. the giant trees were offering their new buds up to the sun as sacrifice in the warm 72. igned the classmates into two 's . Jake was budded up with Mustard , the teachers son . They 73. window of her new bedroom , pathetic tears budded in her eyes . " Oh c'mon , Riv . It can't 74. tous whisky tastings , which should get any budding bard 's inspiration flowing . ¢ Gaiety 75. Power 106 radio this morning . The budding rapper did say he spends his days recording 76. bring up Liz again tonight , all right , bud ? For me , please ? I do n't have a lot 77. " How you say in America , we bud , we bud . " " Buddies , " Jaden asked . " 78. That was because the tree outside was just budding. The light washed over the white clean walls 79. As the drop sank through , a violet bud appeared . It grew amazingly fast , producing 80. into one of the left 's hopes to nip in the bud the presidential bid of that famous right-wing 81. blue ) and ' Indian Summer ' rudbeckia are budded for late-March bloom . White and 82. cuts through the cellophane and snips a bud . I take it from her and tuck it into the 83. ment there was waitressing . She missed her buds at the university , Leah , Nicole , Olivia 84. large numbers of 1a proteins form partially budded spherules containing the viral RNA and 85. frost . On the other hand , trees in which bud set occurs too early in the fall , or bud 86. with lights-out at 9.30PM . With a budding music career , a new show called ' The 87. Livingroom ." You have to stay here , bud , she said . You can't go to gramma 88. found an affinity through kindred taste buds and a love of cheap shell-suit clothing 89. her to wait for a minute ." Jace , bud , Rasha wants to talk to you , but you 90. with myosin heads , like a head of corn budding from a sheaf .Penetrating between 91. Anna went on , " It was wrong for me to bud into your business . " " No it was 92. front of them . The canyon stood out , with buds of plant life curled against it 's mouth 93. a-size plasma screen are enough to keep any budding Mrs Beckham happy . With a penthouse 94. ion fruit ) , Eucalyptus pachyphylla ( red budded mallee ) and Acacia kempeana ( witchetty 95. Somehow , when Lily and Mae exercise their budding maternal instincts and carefully feed me 96. outspread and a branch with a flowering bud grasped in its beak .Soon they are 97. Magnolias are also often propagated by chip budding method which is also used for roses .Magnolias 98. though not too wet , so that the plants can bud and produce the tiny flowers that will 99. ment tool for film schools : show it to any budding Scorseses and if they can't spot more than 100. third grade . They were always the best of buds , but secretly since grade six Melanie 101. owdy substitute for Gwennie , beautiful and budding . Hector sauntered to the table for his 102. this presidential campaign nonsense in the bud pretty damn quick . Jack was still 103. brochure call 0141 - 204 7975 For budding composers , the prospect of having two 104. I 'd like to make a speech , my best bud Micro Spencer , Mike for short , stood 105. in ! " " Should we catnip it in the bud ? " " And say he was cat in the act 106. " I think the only tip I could give to budding authors is to be true to oneself , " first 107. see how the land has embraced you and budded since your arrival . A once barren land 108. seen arguments that say aphids and fish can bud and fertilize things themselves from their 109. the stairs , I see most of Danny 's soccer buds surrounding the card table ; it looks like 110. Beach clubs alone . Last night the budding rapper was out on the town once again , 111. Wednesday 's event , has seen the number of budding tycoons rise from 650 two years ago to 112. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of may and summers lease hath all to short 113. nsects . The sun itself blurted its beams . Budding leaves were twitching pennants and the 114. enough , by November it was covered in tiny buds ready to swell and burst the following 115. I strode over to him and jerked the ear bud our of his left ear . " Will you 116. interior designer , fashion designer and budding choreographer . Serena is a fashion designer 117. three branches : and it was as though it budded , and her blossoms shot forth ; and the 118. spare strand behind one , exposing the ear bud of an iPod . My name is Lila Duncan . I 119. need to be . " Yeah , yeah . Keep trying , bud . KT marches to a different beat 120. ecades . One effect is that flowers are now budding 19 days earlier as spring moves forwards 121. 's how they meet . And they 've been best buds ever since . And Maria . Maria is 122. ground . " Watch where you 're goin ' , bud , " came a voice from above me . I laid 123. order . Thus the seeds were sown for her budding ambitions to become a songwriter in her 124. pot that had manna , and Aaron 's rod that budded , and the tables of the covenant ; And 125. soil , yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant 126. while the youngest begins to explore his budding sexuality . The film has won accolades 127. or in aisle 12 looking for a six pack of Bud . ' American Idol ' frontrunner Taylor 128. as the gang to which she belonged , the budding romance between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner 129. ccess , the young authors had some tips for budding writers ." It is the way you work 130. not like they have highly evolved taste buds or anything . We did much of our 131. from her to hide the smile that began to bud on his face . After being married to him 132. decided to dedicate this chapter to my best bud Mandy ( Andy ) and my good friend Leigh 133. put a few drops of antiseptic on a cotton bud and dabbed each of the cuts . There were 134. the small granules were formed in vesicles budded off from outgrowths of the A-type granule-containing 135. nther removal from Nigella hispanica flower buds reduced filament elongation to 60 % of 136. for Scotland 's shy entrepreneurs Budding technology tycoons are not as confident 137. flowers ahead to find Stem of lotus , bud of rose In the hidden garden grows 138. elebrity cutting off young novelists in the bud ? They say that every one of us has 139. in all but name , which has churned out budding Baggy Caps aplenty . There he was coached 140. in the spring , better than the previous bud . Despite the differences , it is the same 141. ativity of the mind . My life was that of a budding success story waiting to take bloom . Nobody 142. a dog , hear better too and their taste buds were more heightened also . ' While 143. this time , to help nip the nibbling in the bud I put the Stop N Gro away and went along 144. to showcase their talent . Otherwise the budding filmmakers would have had to carry their 145. worst enemy since diapers . Will her best bud Davis Lazzaro , the cute , comic-relief 146. Purves & Purves and pick up the Duo Vase Bud , £ 35 , a simple and contemporary acrylic 147. not bloom unless the ants peeled away the bud , so he kept an eye on the ants on his 148. ists that it remains just as difficult for budding gay politicians to be elected as it ever 149. ying some of the conversation . " Hey bud , " a smaller man about my height said 150. pavilion of apple and cherry trees , their buds just beginning to blossom , and the street 151. iness Trust to provide a stepping stone for budding tycoons . It looks like it is all coming 152. oing to do that . I 'm with you all the way bud . Nothing is going to stop us . " C Bar 153. . " " How you say in America , we bud , we bud . " " Buddies , " Jaden 154. her gentle attack on him , a smile slowly budded on his face before he nodded his head . 155. chelle . " You 're going to need it , bud , " said Jim . " All right , enough 156. intruded on the summertime romance that had budded between him and our dear Maria . Christmas 157. and rhubarb syrup , the flame-like scarlet buds open when dropped into a drink , lending 158. mally did , just beautiful , like a flower bud in spring or a lazily drifting leaf in
Depending on the publisher's budget and the requirements of the dictionary you're working on, the data above could provide fodder for anywhere from 10 minutes' to half a day's work: it all depends on what the job is. If all you've got to do is make sure that the dictionary you're editing adequately treats all the uses of "bud," looking over a few dozen representative citations is probably adequate. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're writing entries from scratch (which is of course the most fun), you've got your work cut out for you: determine how many parts of speech are represented; decide how many senses need to be defined for each part of speech; draft the definitions; locate typical examples where they are needed.
All of the citations in the sample above are from relatively contemporary language. Two things of interest that might not be obvious if you simply thought about the word bud are:
- the relatively high frequency of "bud" as a clipping of "buddy"
- the use of "bud" as a clipping of Budweiser (a trend that the manufacturer is certainly aware of: they have also trademarked the short form, with reference to beer).
A feature of language that is extremely important for learner's dictionaries (that is, English dictionaries written specifically for speakers of other languages) is collocation: the companion words that are typically found with any given word. When examples are given in learner's dictionaries there is always an attempt to illustrate a word with its most frequent collocates, so that the examples presented to dictionary users are the most useful. Using a much larger sample of language, and the tools that are built into most corpus software, it is fairly easy to generate a list of a word's most frequent and most typical companions, or collocates. This leads the lexicographer not only to suitable examples, but to the identification of idioms. The verb nip, for example, collocates frequently with noun bud for obvious reasons: the frequent idiomatic expression "nip it in the bud." In most dictionaries, this sort of idiom merits an entry and definition of its own, rather than just being noted as an example.
The sample sentences above reveal another phenomenon that a good dictionary would take note of, and therefore that a good lexicographer would pick up on: bud is relatively infrequent in progressive tenses (e.g., is budding, has been budding), but the participial and gerundive form budding is fairly common. Common enough, in fact, that the adjective deserves a separate dictionary entry, with a definition along the lines of "starting to develop." A quick push of a few buttons reveals that the things most likely to be budding these days are, in descending order: entrepreneur, romance, artist, star, filmmaker, writer.
Corpora are also good for spotting typical mistakes that people make in writing, and point up why editing is a Good Thing: the writers of lines 51 and 91 above, for example, seem to thing that the verb butt (as in butt in) is spelled bud.
Anyway, you get the picture. Spend your days, weeks, and months doing work like this and you can see that a conference might be a welcome distraction. We're counting down the days!
The website of the Dictionary Society of North America (new members always welcome!) is at
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dsna/
The blog of the 2007 DSNA conference, which gives you a flavor of what's hot and what's not in lexicography these days, is at
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Comments from our users:
Your use of the verb "to thing" in this context really is priceless.