Standard English and dictionaries as its council Words are all over the place all the time. They go out our mouths and maybe in our ears, we speak words, we write words and we read words. But, what is a ‘real’ word? Who’s to say? What most the English-speaking population categorises as a real word, is if it is found in the dictionary or not. Many of us see a place in the dictionary as the requirement for a word’s value and legitimacy. Language has always been in constant change; the change
The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms raises the same question, giving the following definition: “an idiom is the combination of words with a special meaning that cannot be inferred from its separate parts (…). It is impossible to infer the meaning of the idiom from the separate words in question. The meaning of the whole is different from the parts.” Therefore, idioms appear to be transparent to native speakers, while for those learning a second language, in our case, the English language, they
Xiaolu Guo’s “a concise Chinese-English dictionary for lovers”. Of importance to note is that Levy an English writer who traces her origins to the islands of Jamaica. Her parents sailed to England from where she was born (Levy, 2010, 15). On the other hand Xiaolu was born in China. She rose to become a respected author with her novels being written in many languages. Small Island brings to light two families, the first being a Jamaican one and the second is an English one. The collision between these
Macmillan Advanced Learners English Dictionary defines Stress as a worried or nervous feeling that stops you relaxing, caused, for example, by pressure at work or financial or personal problems. The Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, defines stress as; 1. Pressure or tension exerted on a material object. The object according to science, can be a human being. 2. A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Time management, however
the first question, ordinary dictionaries, whether monolingual or bilingual, split up the meaning into individual entries. Though ordinary dictionaries explain the meaning of a word, their effect is limited when it comes to texts. Furthermore, although modern dictionaries are paying increasing attention to collocations, their effect is hampered by their providing a whole range of information about any word beside its collocations. However, recent collocations dictionaries cover a word and its appropriate
teenagers by telling them that the way teens speak is considered to be “Poor English” but fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as “Poor English” it’s simply that teens speak with a different dialect. When teachers and even adults at home get bothered by the “Poor English” and often refer to “speak proper English” in reality they’re referring to “Standard English.” It’s common among teens to develop “poor English” in environments such as schools and even on the playground, it all really
Civilization has been defined in various ways by sociologists and anthropologists. English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor defines civilization as "the total social heredity of mankind.” From his point of view, civilization is the sum of human’s culture and knowledge. It refers to the society as a whole. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “civilization is the society, culture, and way of life of a particular area.” John K. Hord, an American historian, says that “Civilization is the presence
Roman Catholic Church History: Basic Sources General Histories Thomas Bokenkotter. A Concise History of the Catholic Church (revised and expanded edition). 1990. (BX945.2 .B64 1990) William J. Collinge. Historical Dictionary of Catholicism. 1997. (Reference BX945.2 .C65 1997) Michael Glazier and Thomas J. Shelley, editors. The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History. 1997. (Reference BX1406.2 .E53 1997) J. Derek Holmes and Bernard W. Bickers. A Short History of the Catholic Church. "New Millennium
looked down upon and praised at the same time. The term redneck should be socially acceptable in everyday language, because those who it describes take pride using it to describe themselves. The etymology of the term redneck, found in Oxford English Dictionary is describes as “a poorly
Post-truth is defined as “Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief” according to the English Oxford Living Dictionaries (“Post-truth”). Chosen as the word of the year for 2016 by the same dictionary, it has been widely
conclusion on whether scientific knowledge really is a higher form of knowledge. Firstly, before attempting to discuss the topic at hand, it is important to define the terms “knowledge”, “science” and “supreme”. According to Webster’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary “knowledge” is defined as “the acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles gained by sight, experience, or investigation”1. “Science” is a branch of knowledge that has purpose to “describe, explain, understand, investigate, predict, and control”2
running over a child like a "Juggernaut," Utterson decides to stalk Mr. Hyde (Stevenson 3). After running into Mr. Hyde, Utterson is struck that "the man seems hardly human!/Something troglodytic" (Stevenson 10). According to the American Heritage Dictionary, troglodytic can be interpreted as "a member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people ...
Differences between paper-based dictionaries and electronic dictionaries: Nesi (1998) classifies dictionaries into two modes of presentation: paper-based dictionaries and computer-based dictionaries (also known as electronic dictionaries). The main difference between electronic dictionaries and paper-based dictionaries is not their information content but their retrieval system (Nesi, 2000). In a study presented by Zainab Saleh AlBulushy on E-dictionaries versus paper-based ones, she presented the
The Virtue of Discrimination Discrimination is a word that has taken on a negative connotation in today's society. Since the beginning of the equal rights movement, the perceived meaning of the word discrimination has shifted from that of a useful virtue to one of an insulting, derogatory word. Robert Keith Miller wrote an essay for Newsweek in the summer of 1980 that focuses on the discrepancies in the use of the word discrimination. “Discrimination Is a Virtue” points out the differences in
Unfortunately, due to this brain washing we are born into, we come packaged and wrapped with the lovely word stereotype; prejudice embedded deep in our mind without knowledge of it until it is confronted and exposed by pure ignorance! Now when you go to a dictionary the first definition most likely to be seen for stereotype is one like so: " —n. 1. a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material
English is used by a diversity of people throughout the world in numerous ways. There are multiple amounts of definitions and ways to say them. In the short essays, “Redefining Definition” by Erin McKean and “English is a Crazy Language” by Richard Lederer, the authors come to a conclusion that the words used in the English dictionaries do not always have the same meaning but depends on the context being used. Some things we say may not be exactly what we mean, such as, “it’s raining cats and dogs
would like to preface this by saying that one of the things I learned from this exercise is that, just because an article exists in published form, does not necessarily mean that it is a good article. This is the conclusion I reached after plowing, dictionary in hand, through two articles that were, respectively, ridiculously elementary after one hacked through the jargon, and entirely absurd and unsupported. Disheartened, I went searching again, and this time, came up with "Cloistered Closets: Enlightenment
community service and service learning it is necessary that each are defined. Community service is defined in the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary as, “work that people do to help other people without payment, and which young criminals whose crime was not was not serious enough for them to be put in prison are forced to do”(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary 2004). Community service is simply as it is defined work done for free, that carries along with it a slave labor tone. Service learning
Acquiring Knowledge Knowledge is a learning process that lasts a lifetime. According to Webster's Dictionary, knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association; the acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique. Knowledge is gained in many ways; books, teachers, lectures, videos, communication, social interaction, and cultural awareness. There is a wide range of choices where knowledge can be acquired. Knowledge
Part I: Relevant Important Term: Plagiarizing The english dictionary states several definitions of the word Plagiarize: 1) To steal or purloin from the writings of another; to appropriate without due acknowledgement (the ideas or expressions of another). 2) Take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property 3) To put forth as original to oneself the ideas or words of another. The definition in the dictionary correspondes accurately with what I had defined for