Those people writing -before- dictionaries were invented, must have had a real tough time....
Roger.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Hamilton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 17:53
Subject: Re: Back on Planet Earth
> Erminia:
>
> > I feel you should go and look up exactly in the dictionary what
> > really "stupid" is, and means.
>
> I'm afraid this isn't how dictionaries work (other than those compilations
> of spellings which all too often masquerade as dictionaries).
>
> Primary dictionaries collect masses of (dated) citations, and then put them
> together in groups. The editors then attempt to +construct+ definitions
> which reflect these sources. The editorial "definitions" have no more
> authority than this.
>
> (There are exceptions, of course, but even if you examine the fifteen
> earliest English dictionaries collated in the Early Modern English
> Dictionary database, you'll find that they don't provide definitions, but
> collections of synonyms. Fun all the same.)
>
> Dictionaries aren't bibles, compilations of Holy Writ -- they are
> collections of material with an editorial commentary.
>
> At least in England -- they do things differently in France, I believe. And
> perhaps in Italy.
>
> Robin
>
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