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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Not in, but out #85446 11/02/2002 2:13 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky We have had several threads on how a particular word gets into a dictionary, but now I'm wondering the opposite. I am re-reading a Mary Stewart novel, vintage 1967, in which the main character and her companion come across a Chambers Dictionary, from which the main character reads the word cusk, and asks whether her companion knew that a cusk is a torsk or a burbot. Well, MY newish Chambers being to hand (hi, Jo!), I found that it contained torsk and burbot but not cusk. So--how is it decided that a word should be dropped from a dictionary? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Not in, but out #85447 11/02/2002 2:24 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Dear Jackie: Chambers may not list "cusk" but my dictionary does. cusk n., pl. cusk or cusks 5Brit local name < ?6 1 a large, edible gadoid fish (Brosme brosme) found in the N Atlantic >2 BURBOT I just checked, and AHD has it also Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Not in, but out #85448 11/02/2002 6:12 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass but to hurriedly back away from the comparison of dictionaries and attempt to answer the question, it's all a matter of policies and standards. the editorial board (or perhaps the usage panel) will decide how to apply markings such as obsolete and archaic and rare and under what circumstances a word so classified will be dropped altogether. a diachronic, or historical, dictionary such as OED will not soon drop any word; a synchonic dictionary such as W3 will be under constant revision in this regard. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Not in, but out #85449 11/02/2002 8:18 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Wow--hooray for Atomica! Diachronic and synchronic are exactly what I thought they were, going by your context, tsuwm. Thanx for 2 new words! (And for the other info. I just thought it was interesting that though we have several times brought up how words get into a dictionary, it had not occurred to me that they are dropped.) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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