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62 Comments
- decoy26517, on 01/08/2009, -3/+19Very good speaker, she's also cute as a button.
- indycolts88, on 01/07/2009, -3/+17Erin is a great Speaker.
- teamgwho, on 01/08/2009, -0/+12she could be the poster girl for hot nerd chick
- Ikulus, on 01/08/2009, -2/+13Here's an hour presentation from Erin about dictionaries, for those like me who just can't get enough.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-1588634025 ... - sexybobo, on 01/08/2009, -0/+10Guess she has never heard of urban dictionary.
- danalibrarian, on 01/08/2009, -1/+10who wouldn't??
- Hodor, on 01/08/2009, -2/+9idk what you trolls are talking about, I thought she was good.
- Navicerts, on 01/08/2009, -0/+7Something about her was appealing to me, maybe the neediness I don't know. She had a great vocabulary and wonderful diction. I guess I should expect nothing less from a lexicographer.
- uptwolait, on 01/08/2009, -0/+6She said "double dactyl".
And I jizzed in my pants. - id21, on 01/08/2009, -0/+6I like this lady :) She love words so much!
Very interesting!
I love words now too ! :D - chewbie, on 01/08/2009, -0/+6gotta love the nerdy girls :) they have their appeal
notice how she can't stand properly on high heels :) - MicrosoftAccess, on 01/08/2009, -6/+12I bet if she could have sex with words, she would.
- inactive, on 01/08/2009, -0/+6And with the traffic cop, you get a written language that has absolutely nothing to do with the spoken language.
Knife. (used to be pronounced ka-ni-feh) The french word remained: canif.
There's no point in "correct" language. The only thing that can make language correct is that it's understood.
For example, Americans say "entrée" for "main course". Except "entrée" means "first course".
And they'll say "Hors-d'oeuvres" for "first course. Except "hors-d'oeuvre" means "appetizer".
But it's still correct. Because most americans think the words refer to what they are being used for in America. In the "American language" (dialect), those words are correct. - Toronto86er, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5TED is so awesome.
- DaDrake, on 01/08/2009, -1/+5Interesting idea but one fatal blow.
If you eliminate the "traffic cop" of a language, you are essentially opening it to be bastardized by everyone who doesn't know proper spelling and grammar. Misspellings of words, like definitely, seem more common then the proper spellings. I am not someone who criticize others on bad spellings... and I am guilty of it... but there needs to be some foundation. - shanealeslie, on 01/08/2009, -0/+4I liked the dress, made me think of a Kimono.
- Navicerts, on 01/08/2009, -0/+4I agree but you are wrong on this point:
"And they'll say "Hors-d'oeuvres" for "first course. Except "hors-d'oeuvre" means "appetizer"."
Hors-d'oeuvres = appetizer in the US (at least in the north east) - rushiku, on 01/08/2009, -4/+7Charisma - 16
Intelligence - 18
Fashion Sense - 2
My own fashion sense is, generously, 3; 2 to 3 must be the realm of "at least try to not look a doofus". - shamess, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3I read or heard somewhere that the German language has hundreds of words to describe feelings and emotions. In English we don't have anywhere near as many, and that's probably one of the reasons why we find it so hard to describe our emotions; we just don't have enough words!
If we drop out more and more words just because we think they're "dead", our vocabulary will shrink and eventually important - but little used - words will be forgotten. That's why I think even really old words should be accessible in the dictionary (whatever form that dictionary is in). - sorenchr, on 01/08/2009, -2/+5Talking to your crowd like they are babies doesn't make you a great speaker.
- cochonnerie, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3I don't think her analogy to being a traffic cop refers to controlling how words are being spelt. Instead, she is saying that we shouldn't be basing our decisions on what constitutes a word on the opinion of lexicographers -- ie, is "insert word here" in the dictionary or not?
- dafragsta, on 01/08/2009, -1/+4Of course! The pan is too small! That's a perfectly cromulent complaint against Dictionaries!
- AlanLivingston, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3Please submit "apposed" to leximo.
- AlanLivingston, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3@Detesticular
"And they'll say "Hors-d'oeuvres" for "first course."
Hors-d'oeuvres is used for first course in the US? What? Are you nuts? Oh... Yes. Yes you are. - inactive, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2Irony!
- cochonnerie, on 01/08/2009, -1/+3Interesting speaker.. very clear. Not sure I agree with her conclusion though, since her premise about being a traffic cop is flawed. Words are continually evolving, and, like animals, are subject to "survival of the fittest". Those that survive (are used frequently) are the ones that get included in the dictionary. A lexicographer's job, therefore, isn't to be a traffic cop, but rather to access whether or not a word is "surviving" (cops don't do this). Why should dead words be included in a dictionary when nobody is using them by definition?
- davidlow, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2Would she prefer the letter O or the letter T?
- Smalldude76, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2Why did your sister stop saying, "Tongue is alive"?
- Versh, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I don't think she was advocating the end of proper reference, I think she's just apposed the once-a-year print edition of dictionaries that don't catch all the new phrases coined in the new books, television shows, music, and at the very least-- the internet.
Sure, she might be depending a little too much on the amateurs to supply new installments of the lexicon, but it's not too bad to crowd-source what's recent. Determining the good will still belong to the traffic cops of the language. Hopefully. - painhertz, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I'll add lexicographers to my list of favourite people to hang out with. Now there are 3 groups; librarians, physicists, and lexicographers.
- dralezero, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2Mispellings shouldn't mater. Isn't English the only language you have to worry about that with? Other languages are written phonetically.
- chrisbarr, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2This is why we have things like the Urban Dictionary.
- snafflepaffle, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2OMG. Marry me...
- feenxfire, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Yeah, she's cute and all; but, used together, the OED, Wiktionary, and Urban Dictionary already do the job she's proposing.
- counterplex, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I feel completely scrumptacularized by that comment. I'll go frudlink in the corner for a while. I refign your wesproquatious attitude!
- soil, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Nice to hear from someone who cares about language and doesn't just rant against "lols." I thought her presentation successfully contradicted the stereotype that people who care about words can't communicate without putting everyone else to sleep.
That, or I'm a latent lexicographer.
...I am the very model of a latent lexicographer. - Godlike, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I'd do 'er.
- Versh, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Woops! I rewrote the sentence and forgot a word...
Though technically, apposed already exists (though I hardly use it, quite demonstrably).
Appose, verb, To place in proximity; juxtapose.
:] - counterplex, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Not to nit-pick but hors d'oeuvres has two words in it. Secondly, entree probably works in the American sense because most meals only have one course as such (not counting the hors d'oeuvres).
Having said that I don't think we should change the definition of a word easily. I can understand a word changing meanings slightly when moving from language to language e.g. hors d'oeuvres moving from French to English but once it's in the language it needs to be a constant or a very very slow moving target. Create new words if you have to but don't touch old words just yet. - inactive, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2That's not how it works.
It's not something you can control.
It's like knife. Knife and canif have the same origin. It's the same word spelled differently.
Canif now means folding knife in french. Knife is now "couteau". But it used to just mean knife.
It's not something that was done on purpose, it's just the evolution of language. That's why spelling no longer respects spoken language. All spelling was originally phonetic. But the spoken language changed and spelling was standardized, preventing it from evolving with spoken language.
If most people start calling entrées "homard" (french word for Lobster) next year, then the correct (most widely understood) name to refer to "entrées" will be "homard". The correct speed of evolution, is the speed of evolution of the people who speak the language.
The only thing that matters is that it is understood. If I opened a restaurant in the United States, even a French restaurant, I would have to call main courses "entrées" so that people will understand. If I say "Plat principal" (main course), nobody will know what I'm talking about. Even if it's correct. - Dacvak, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Maybe it's because I simply don't have the drive to be a lexicographer, but after about 4 minutes of the discussion of words, I started getting bored with the subject matter. That being said, I ended up watching the entire video simply because Erin was such a good speaker.
I feel like I should go hug my dictionary. - lenninct, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2microsoftaccess wouldn't
- rushiku, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Yes, it was cut like a casual kimono, props.
Casual kimonos are for getting out of the bath, not giving speeches.
And! the black & teal with red piping = blegh. - painhertz, on 01/08/2009, -1/+2Who cares if YOU agree? It's not your schtick anyway. I'll rely on her EXPERT opine rather than your decidely unexpert. Thank you. Look up pedantic.
- pevachon, on 01/08/2009, -1/+2That was a very interesting and entertaining talk... good job
- cochonnerie, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1There's nothing stopping you from using new words to express yourself. If other people understand your word, then it serves its purpose. Ex. I feel like 'facebooking'. In fact, philosophy does this all the time, either creating new words or borrowing words from other languages to better describe what is being said. "Dasein", for example, is one such word. My point is not to drop words, but to catalog only those that are being used since we use dictionaries to find the definition of words we come across and don't understand. If the word is dead, you probably don't need to define it since you won't come across it. It also warns you to avoid using it since very few people are likely to understand it. That being said, "dead" words have their place too, which is the OED; the OED is also a 20 volume behemoth and serves a completely different purpose. Your also free to 'revive' dead words, like 'bajulate'
-- you'll just have to convince enough people to use it and it will be re-introduced into dictionaries. - RexxxMaster, on 01/08/2009, -1/+2When reading "1984" the method of reduction of word used. I think it only would reducing people mean of express them self. Make people more brute. Just thinking about how easy for people to tell people to burn in hell. Why would some one ever wish eternal punishment some else soul.
- KeanuGoesWhoa, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1hehe the definition of dork is in the dictionary...her picture is next to it!...
- tamakino, on 01/09/2009, -1/+2That was a great presentation. One of the best PowerPoints I've ever seen.
- cochonnerie, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1What, I'm not allowed to have an opinion? Her speech was interesting (I enjoyed it) and simple enough to follow. I saw a problem with it, however, and pointed it out. If you don't agree with what I have to say, I'd love to hear why (because YOUR opinion actually matters to me). Maybe I misunderstood something in her presentation that you didn't -- if so, I'd like to know. But last I checked this was a discussion board, and discussion boards are for having discussions (imagine that!). When YOU have discussions/debates with other people, do you only regurgitate what other people think? If so, that makes you pretty boring. Why should anybody want to talk to you when they could just go directly to the person you are quoting? In fact, why should anybody discuss anything at all when there are "experts" to tell us what exactly we should be thinking at all times.
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