If you missed this year's Summit in Dallas, Texas, you missed a wonderful keynote speech by “dictionary evangelist” Erin McKean. Her talk, titled “The Dictionary is Dead (Long Live the Dictionary),” discussed the evolution of the dictionary and how words are used, coined, and shared.
She also delved into how dictionaries are made, and raised an interesting point regarding the oft-referenced rule of journalism, the five W's and one H. The dictionary, McKean stated, only goes into two of those, and primarily only the What. The specific example she used was the word “tuxedo.” You might see a man in a tuxedo carrying a martini. Is he a waiter? Or is he James Bond? If there's evil in the vicinity, you need to know who you're asking to fight the supervillain. But the simple definition of tuxedo (WHAT is a tuxedo) won't do you much good.
She showed a pie graph as well, with four distinct types of words: words you know and use; words you know but don't use; words you don't know and don't use; and words you don't know but still use. The dictionary, she stated, focuses far too much on the large first category, whereas most users are in need of assistance in the third and fourth categories. What good is a definition of “cat” when you already know what a cat is, after all?
She referenced her online dictionary, Wordnik.com, and compared it to the fairy tale of Stone Soup. Every person adds a little bit of flavor to the pot, and pretty soon there's a big bowl of soup for all to enjoy. Such is Wordnik, where users can add context, links, pronunciations, variations, and more, to help make “the most comprehensive dictionary in the known universe.”
STC recorded Erin's speech, so keep an eye out after the Summit for a link to view her engaging and entertaining talk. And yes, she said “Meep”!