The dictionary--in its myriad versions--is of course the official record on language and what concepts words express, so it matters when "same-sex marriage" gets into the books.
What with the news from Iowa and Vermont legalizing marriages between people irrespective of sex, and from DC recognizing such marriages if they're valid in other states, it seems perfectly sensible to include it in the dictionary. We should have formal definitions for terms that are getting a lot of press, after all.
At the same time, since the dictionary (which is certainly always an incomplete record of a language) does serve as the sort of official line on what's available to be legitimately dicussed, it can also be seen as a big deal. If something's in the dictionary, it exists, by George!
Language is fascinating. How would we know we existed if we didn't have words to think about ourselves?
1 comment:
If its in the OED, then we know it must be official. If it is not in the OED, then it must be heresy! :-)
I only have American Heritage (btw) so I'll be looking it up soon.
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