If I have to explain in more detail than the spokesman for the Oxford University Press does at the link why a dictionary includes words and meanings we think are wrong, I will be glad to. Merriam-Webster is including a new transgender pronoun meaning of "they" in its new edition. Conservatives will become irate, as they have ever since "ain't" was first included in 1961, and they are wrong. It's one of those places they are sure they are just defending standards and holding the line against the deterioration of our culture, but all they are doing is demonstrating that they haven't thought about it very hard.
Dictionaries describe what the language is, not prescribe what it should be. If you prefer the latter, consult a manual of style instead. You won't always like their decisions either, though.
The new twist is that now it is leftists who are objecting to the definitions, and even more to the example sentences. We may get to see if dictionaries have been acting on principle all along, or just taking sides. My guess is some of both, but it will be interesting to see if they bow to this new pressure.
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ReplyDeleteConservatives rising to the bait on these sort of things is unavoidable, not surprising, but still disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI plan to ignore them. I'm old. Too old to care.
ReplyDeleteThe latest from the Babylon Bee is an article about a Canadian guy who wants his "preferred pronoun" to be "Eh".
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be "Lord Wyman," myself.
ReplyDeleteIf they insist, I'll tell them "Mar". True, it is merely aspirational...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately somebody nefarious seems to use that as a first name, or alias.