in Oxford Children’s Dictionary:
Oxford University Press has removed words like “aisle”, “bishop”, “chapel”, “empire” and “monarch” from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like “blog”, “broadband” and “celebrity”. Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.
The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.
But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain’s heritage.
“We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,” said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. “The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.”
An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from “abbey” to “willow” have been axed. Instead, words such as “MP3 player”, “voicemail” and “attachment” have taken their place.
Lisa Saunders, a worried mother who has painstakingly compared entries from the junior dictionaries, aimed at children aged seven or over, dating from 1978, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, said she was “horrified” by the vast number of words that have been removed, most since 2003.
“The Christian faith still has a strong following,” she said. “To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it.”
Ms Saunders realised words were being removed when she was helping her son with his homework and discovered that “moss” and “fern”, which were in editions up until 2003, were no longer listed.
h/t Hot Air Headlines. Related.
Looking up words in a book. Is that a British thing?
In Cambodia, they called it “year zero.”
“Moss” and “fern” are no longer expected parts of childrens’ vocabulary?
Good lord.
My brother was telling me about a study of English teachers which found that many teachers simply will not teach books like “East of Eden” because the religious allusions are so important to the richness and understanding of the text, and the vast majority of students
simply lack the basic knowledge of Scripture to get it. So there was no point in trying to teach it.
I’ve noticed that about myself reading a lot of things – Shakespeare to Agatha Christie – and their allusions to Latin or Greek mythology. I don’t have the grounding in classical studies to “get it” like I ought.
My brother was telling me about a study of English teachers which found that many teachers simply will not teach books like “East of Eden†because the religious allusions are so important to the richness and understanding of the text, and the vast majority of students simply lack the basic knowledge of Scripture to get it. So there was no point in trying to teach it.
See also: “Children of Men.” What a travesty that movie was, drained of all faith and spirit.
Isn’t that the point?
Not to mention play hell with crossword puzzlers.
I see Prof Smithers is a master of understatement. Or if you prefer, stating the obvious with great meekness.
Instead, words such as “MP3 playerâ€Â, “voicemail†and “attachment†have taken their place.
Well that is good. Think of the thousands of little British children old enough to read a dictionary who have no idea what an MP3 player or a voice mail is.
Fine, well played Oxford. But if you want to make the argument that it is Britain’s dwindling rural atmosphere that supplies the reason for excising so many words, how do explain omitting the word…bacon!?
So, you’re saying that wee Britons, city-dwellers all, suddenly ceased eating bacon with their Heinz pork ‘n beans?….really!?
I’m sure it had nothing to do with the possibility of offending another cultural group that shall remain nameless.
So Long Britain, and Thanks for All the Tea!
Good to see the team at
NewspeakOxford getting on with the job of clearing up the English language. Doubleplus good!“Aisle” is out? Oh Noes! How will I be able to request my favorite seat on airplanes?
Oh, I forgot. Those are reserved for
terroristsgunmen.Britain’s gone.
It’s finished.
BTW, is “muezzin” in the dictionary?
Seems odd to put words kids already know in a dictionary and take the ones out they don’t know but are in regular use. How’s that supposed to help anyone, again?
“By 2050â€â€earlier, probablyâ€â€all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byronâ€â€they’ll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like ‘freedom is slavery’ when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinkingâ€â€not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
A violet by a mossy tone
Half hidden from the eye!
— Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
So much for English literature…
oh hey, Mikey NTH, I noticed it’s “Kipling night” on TCM.