|
|
There's a federal law that defines writing. Because the meaning of the words in our laws isn't always clear, the very first of our federal laws, the Dictionary Act--the name for Title 1, Chapter 1, Section 1, of the U.S. Code--defines what some of the words in the rest of the Code mean, both to guide legal interpretation and to eliminate the need to explain those words each time they appear. Writing is one of the words it defines, but the definition needs an upgrade.
Continue reading...
Click here to read more articles from Behind the Dictionary.
This month in the Lounge, we take a look at the much buzzed-about "culturomics" paper in the journal Science and the related "Ngram viewer" rolled about Google to track the history of language and culture. What does the trendy "culturomic" approach to data-crunching have to offer those harmless drudges, the lexicographers?
Continue reading...
Click here to read more articles from Language Lounge.
The University of Chicago website is featuring an article about three alumni who have become "ambassadors of lexicography" and are "putting a public face on modern language studies": Jesse Sheidlower of the Oxford English Dictionary, Erin McKean of Wordnik, and Ben Zimmer of the Visual Thesaurus. Read the article here.
Click here to read more articles from Blog Excerpts.
The Dictionary of American Regional English is a sprawling, monumental reference work, with a fifth and final volume scheduled for publication in 2011. But if you want a daily dose of DARE goodness, just follow the dictionary's Twitter feed! The Twitter handle is @DAREwords.
Click here to read more articles from Blog Excerpts.
The New Oxford American Dictionary has released its third edition, and in the time-honored tradition of lexicographical publicity, a sampling of the dictionary's new words and phrases has been making the rounds. Some have griped that the list "reads like a list of Twitter trending topics" that is designed "to bait bloggers, who really are obsessed with the Interweb." Is the list too preoccupied with evanescent online culture? You be the judge!
Continue reading...
Click here to read more articles from Blog Excerpts.
|
Other Topics:
|
