I have now
been reading my dictionary of choice for over a week and a half, yet it still
hasn’t quite sunk in that I am literally reading the dictionary. I don’t know when that reality is going to
hit me but I suspect it will be well into the letter B. At that point my bookmark should have
adequate and noticeable separation from the front cover.
So far I
have read 38 pages of introductory material and 13 pages of definitions. At my current pace, I regret to inform you
that it may take me most, if not all, of this calendar year to finish this
beast. This is due to a combination of
1) the print is small, and 2) I grossly overestimated my ability to push
through this mammoth.
Most
dictionary owners have probably never read the introductory material in their
dictionary. I found much of it pretty
interesting. It lays out explanations
for all of the elements you find in a definition entry: representation of
syllables and stresses, pronunciations, labels for parts of speech, etymology
(word origins), dates of first occurrence, and more. Some of these elements get more attention
from me than others. I’ll explain in a
bit.
The
eight-page section on the history of the English language and English-language
dictionaries was a bit much. Eight pages
of itty-bitty print droning on about why no dictionary is ever perfect for all
people and what I found to be the mind-numbing and tedious process the folks at
Merriam-Webster use to produce a new edition roughly every decade. Rest assured of two things: 1) your job is
probably a lot more interesting than theirs, and 2) you definitely do not want
to play any kind of word game with them.
The
five-page pronunciation guide was very helpful and goes into detail of how each
phonetic sound may vary based on nationality or region. Some pronunciations are straightforward but
others are not (five possible pronunciations each for the letters A and O
depending on where it is located within the word and what letters it pairs
with). I bookmarked the succinct version
of the pronunciation guide that concludes the introductory materials for reference
while reading through definitions.
Now, about
those definitions… I initially thought
the process of reading the dictionary could be akin to a sprint. It’s more like a marathon. This is bad news for anyone hoping to see me
read multiple books this year but it is actually good news for me as a
reader. Obviously, I don’t expect to
remember all of these definitions or even half of the words being defined. Instead of tearing through words and
definitions, I found myself forced to slow down and actually read and
understand the pronunciation, date of first occurrence, and (to a much lesser
degree) the etymology of the words. It
makes the finish line seem light years away but it is better for me in the long
run.
As I stated
in my previous post, I plan on highlighting favorable or unfavorable words that
I come across during my lexical journey.
So far there have been fewer than I anticipated. Nevertheless, here is what I’ve got for you
this time:
AARDVARK- This
is actually the second multiple-letter word in my dictionary. I was expecting it to be first, but
apparently the M-W folks count the exclamation Aah as their first word after
all the definitions for the letter A. I
chose aardvark not because it appears so early but because I never knew the
word was Afrikaans. That’s what paying
attention to the etymology blurb gets you.
The first part, aard, is Afrikaans for earth and vark means pig. Go figure.
AB- Not the
shortened way of referring to the abdominal muscles. I’m talking about the many words beginning
with the letters ab. I was surprised to
find out that many of the ab- words we use should not be pronounced with the
flat A sound (as in map) but with the ‘uh’ sound (as in around). The M-W folk caution that their
pronunciations are those most commonly used by learned people, but I know a lot
of smart folks running around saying some of these ab- words incorrectly
(myself included on some of them).
ABSCISIC ACID- This is the plant hormone released by trees and some plants that cause
its leaves to fall off in preparation for the cold winter months. Now that I know what causes the leaves to
change color and fall, I am curious- how do the trees know when to release this
hormone?
ACADEMIC- I
have developed mixed feelings about this and other similar words. If you are using it to describe a love for
learning, I’m okay with it. What I don’t
like is the judgmental quality this word sometimes carries. To call a process the ‘academic approach’ is
also putting down other approaches. Many
come to view academic to mean intelligent, discerning, educated, and
scientific. Qualifying your approach to
something as academic immediately and subtly puts down other approaches as
somehow inferior to your own. Some other
approaches may in fact be silly and useless, but it doesn’t mean that they all
are. Some alternative approaches may be
perfectly valid.
I am going
to classify this word as quasi-elitist, as some in higher education and those
with advanced degrees like to bandy this word about to position themselves as
smarter and/or better than someone or something else. If you are one of these people and wish to
defend such usage of the word, please note that M-W also offers these other
interesting definitions for academic: “very
learned but inexperienced in practical matters;” “of or relating to literary or
artistic rather than technical or professional studies;” “having no practical
or useful significance;” and “conventional.”
Ouch.
ACE- One of
the definitions of this word explains just how a fighter pilot earns the title
of ace. I’m not sure if this is still
the case, but according to M-W, a fighter pilot earns this title by shooting
down at least five enemy planes. Think
about the next time you see Snoopy doing his flying ace shtick.
That’s it
for now. Check back next week for any
interesting words I’ve come across.
