I was just thinking, is there any reason for the word “dictionary” to be in the dictionary? I mean, if someone uses a dictionary to look up the word dictionary, then they obviously already know what a dictionary is. I guess they have to have it in there for the sake of completeness, as they do a number of other words. For instance, no one is ever going to look up what “the” or “of” means, but they still had to define them. And, though everyone who has even a slight grasp of English understands those concepts, the words themselves are really hard to define. I bet the least senior people got that assignment; think of spending all that time trying to explain “the” while knowing no one is ever actually going to read it. And did the person have to refrain from using “the” in the definition to keep it from being circular? Are there lots of disgruntled dictionary people? Maybe they get some cool benefits, like, after being there a long while, you get to make up your own word. Oh, and was the aardvark named that simply for prominent placement in the dictionary? If that’s true, that’s kind of pathetic. Then again, I guess that makes the aardwolf even more pathetic. And is there an authority they go to for defining slang and swear words, or do they just reference their foul-mouthed uncle Louie?
I gotta stop looking up words in the dictionary; it’s distracting.
Proof Positive that Democrats know nothing about this Country they tend to hate so much.
In a simple jump of logic I was able to decide if somebody knows what ‘of’ or ‘the’ means they should also know what ‘is’ means.
Hence, proof positive Democrats have at best a slight grasp of English as their Champion couldn’t figure out that pesky ‘is’ situation.
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=FROG
frog
n.
Definition #9
Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a French person.
Offensive to whom? To anyone that matters?
“I gotta stop looking up words in the dictionary; it’s distracting.”
It’s not as bad as encyclopedia disease, especially when following all the “q.v.”s.
Actually, when it comes to adding slang and other new words to the dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary each year reviews submissions made by the public of words they say are new. There are a few conditions; the word has to be clearly defined by the submitter, and the word has to be in general use by a large enough group of people. But the Oxford people recognize that languages grow and change, and that even slang and swear words are part of language, so they include anything that’s a “real” word, that is, one actually used by people.
An old trick, when you get a good dictionary, look up “roof”, if it can’t define that, then chances are it can’t define words you would actually look up.
Also, thanks to you Frank, I’m going to look up “dictionary” in every dictionary I see.