How Does A Word Make It Into The Dictionary?

Every year a fistful of young word make it into the lexicon , but how do they get there and who chooses them ? Kory Stamper , a lexicographer for Merriam Webster , explains to us just how our dictionaries get made .

Stamper join us today toanswer all our questionsabout the definition and origins of words , rate from the hardest countersign she ever defined ( “ god ” ) to the hugger-mugger origins of the Good Book sweat ( “ which now refers to a hearty and delightful soup . . . but used to bring up to a sporting house ” ) .

https://gizmodo.com/kory-stamper-is-here-to-answer-all-your-questions-about-1551195407

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particularly interesting , though , was this look at just what get into defining a word :

Defining actor’s line is brain - straining , astonishing , crazy - devising . Whenever an editor is lease at Merriam - Webster , they take what we call “ Style and Defining ” classes , where you learn how to tear apart English grammar ( since you will be the someone who has to analyse what part of language a Good Book will be ) and blueprint dictionary definition . When it ’s time to go on a dictionary , you get a section of the alphabet and all the written evidence we ’ve collected for that discussion . You read the grounds and you settle whether it ’s already covered by the exist definition . If not , you draft a definition for it .

Most of the time , the definition is pretty easy to deduce from the context , but sometimes it ’s not . The hardest Holy Writ to define are the smallest : “ but , ” “ as , ” “ be , ” “ go , ” “ run”—words like that . you may drop months on one of those words , and you get so deep into in that you start to look a little weird Valleyish by the end of it : real mass meet you , and while you may have a conversation , they are put off by your empty , utter eyes which only stare inward at the diminishing compass point that was once your humanity .

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So , yeah , it ’s large !

But , though the coveted spot in the rolls of the dictionary may seem like quite a heavy step in the life of a Holy Scripture , perhaps we should n’t feel too regretful for those that do n’t make the cut , read Stamper :

I sort of cringe when people talk about a word being made “ official ” once it ’s entered into the dictionary . The dictionary is a record of the language as it is used , so by the time a word is entered into the lexicon , it ’s already “ official ” in that it has widespread use in the nomenclature . Dictionaries are really not that cutting - border .

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