Oxford English Dictionary solicits new submissions

By Jules Bell

JAKARTA (JP): Linguists and wordsmiths take note, because now is your chance to officially add a word to the English language.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is appealing to the public for submissions as part of its first complete revision since the text was published in full in 1928.

"The dictionary is being completely revised -- with every word and every meaning fully reviewed and updated, and new words and meanings added," according to Oxford University Press' web site for its dictionary at oed.com.

"I would like to invite readers to contribute to the development of the dictionary by adding to our record of English throughout the world," says John Simpson, the dictionary's chief editor. "Everyone can play a part in recording the history of the language and helping to enhance the Oxford English Dictionary."

Oxford University Press also intends to publish its dictionary and updates on the Internet. The complete current second edition of the dictionary, which contains more than 59 million words, will be available online from March 2000, including 1,000 new entries.

Revisions and additions will then be published quarterly, until the new edition is completed by the target date of 2010, at a cost to the company of US$55 million.

Although this is the first complete revision of what is arguably the world's most respected English language dictionary, it is not the first time the public has been asked to contribute.

One hundred and twenty years ago, OED's original editor, James Murray, launched an appeal to the English speaking and reading public of Great Britain, America and the British colonies. According to OED's web site, this appeal proved that contributors come from all walks of life and included writers, a stevedore superintendent, a Nobel Laureate, a cryptographer and an inmate from an asylum.

What is also evident with OED's new revision is the globalization of English. In contrast to the previous appeal to the public, Oxford's appeal is extending worldwide this time. The current editor's approach illustrates this change.

"There is no longer one English -- there are many Englishes. Words are flooding into the language from all corners of the world," Simpson says.

The potential for a word's addition to the dictionary depends on its presence in a written form. Although slang and spoken words are relevant and present in the current edition, a word needs written references to satisfy Oxford's selection criteria and admission procedure. "Although the dictionary does take account of spoken English, evidence for the Reading Program must always be from published sources," says OED's web site.

Oxford's Internet site lists these words in its appeals lists, where references for newly submitted words are sought, as are additional citations and contextual variations for words already published in the dictionary. The company's lexicographers are also seeking information regarding a word's first known usage, or antedate.

The appeal lists from the dictionary's newsletters over the last two years contain some interesting examples. He probably never thought it could happen, but Homer Simpson seems to be on the verge of jumping from popular culture into the realm of literary acceptance. The expression for which he is famous in the animated TV series The Simpsons, "D'oh!, Doh!", is presently defined by Oxford as an "expression of frustration used when a person has done something stupid; popularized by Homer Simpson; antedate 1993". If you are aware of an earlier written reference or source call Oxford.

Also to be found on the appeal lists are: Trailer trash, the American derogative and aggressive term for people living in trailer parks, and bike, as in the transitive verb to "to deliver, or arrange for delivery, by (motor) cycle courier; antedate 1990". The word politicking is also listed, for which references are being sought previous to 1928, perhaps relevant of late in Indonesia.

Somewhat more personal in nature is the expression the full monty, aided no doubt by the English feature film and hit of the same name about people who take their clothes off, thereby going the full monty. The potentially related bachelor pad and the adjective "curvy, a. (of woman or woman's figure) antedate 1961", are also up for addition and revision.

Moving off earth and into outer space, little green men in flying saucers seem to be gaining ground with the listing of the description men in black, defined as "people believed to visit those who claim to have had an alien encounter, antedate 1986".

So how about knocking kebab from its pedestal as the definite culinary version of cooked meat on a stick, and letting satay rein supreme -- in terms of taste and linguistics? Batik could be clarified, and there is always that strange Western approach to an orang hutan (man of the forest), or orangutan to those not in the know.

Submission forms are available at OED's oed.com web site, and do not be discouraged by any cultural reservations or social concerns for appropriateness.

"Any word, slang or dialect, politically correct or incorrect, is useful as long as it is used by English speakers or writers of English," says Oxford's contribution guide.

Somewhere within Indonesia's rich culture and language where sleeping policemen are speed traps, fire carts are trains and pieces of glass that come back at you are mirrors, there must be equally transcendent contributions to the English language. If this is the case, then now is the chance.