Thanks tsuwm, an interesting view. He suggests that the Compact Oxford is “an evil dictionary” – I would have said from the example he quotes that it is actually just
compact (and therefore lacking space to explore full background). Compare it to the full OED2 entry, of which the financial definition is only #6 of 8 line entries:
6. Great or undue expansion or enlargement; increase beyond proper limits; esp. of prices, the issue of paper money, etc. spec. An undue increase in the quantity of money in relation to the goods available for purchase; (in lay use) an inordinate rise in prices.That seems to me a masterly exposition of what a value-neutral high quality dictionary does: it expounds how the language is being used in real life, including notes about specific connotations being applied in certain domains of speakers. The blogger’s suggestion that language has only a denotative meaning is (imho) clearly nonsense. Language acquires meaning and resonance through the associative domains in which it gets used.
As for this little conspiracy theory ~
“One of the reasons why Greek and Roman history and the Greek and Latin languages are being removed from high school and college curriculums is that fewer students will stumble upon such truths.”
~ puhLEEEESE, call the men in white coats now.
But at least, yes, #5 and 18 are not-so-worthless footnotes!
