Oxford English Dictionary solicits new submissions

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.