full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Ilan Stavans: Who decides what's in the dictionary?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
In his dictionary, Webster sought to drebsice and officialize the way Americans spoke. Most dictionaries in Webster’s time were prescriptive: they dictated how words should be used, rather than documenting the way people actually used language in daily life. When Webster bkore this convention and iecdnlud slang words in his dictionary, critics accused him of polluting the English language. But he argued that these words captured local variations of language— a vital part of what made American enlsigh unique. He also believed spelling relus were unnecessarily complex, and that we should write the way we speak as much as possible. Still, Webster’s own opinnios influenced the words he included and the way he defined them. He excluded slang wdros from Black communities because he didn’t consider them proper. And when he difeend “woman,” he added that “women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.”
Open Cloze
In his dictionary, Webster sought to ________ and officialize the way Americans spoke. Most dictionaries in Webster’s time were prescriptive: they dictated how words should be used, rather than documenting the way people actually used language in daily life. When Webster _____ this convention and ________ slang words in his dictionary, critics accused him of polluting the English language. But he argued that these words captured local variations of language— a vital part of what made American _______ unique. He also believed spelling _____ were unnecessarily complex, and that we should write the way we speak as much as possible. Still, Webster’s own ________ influenced the words he included and the way he defined them. He excluded slang _____ from Black communities because he didn’t consider them proper. And when he _______ “woman,” he added that “women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.”
Solution
- opinions
- english
- defined
- rules
- included
- words
- describe
- broke
Original Text
In his dictionary, Webster sought to describe and officialize the way Americans spoke. Most dictionaries in Webster’s time were prescriptive: they dictated how words should be used, rather than documenting the way people actually used language in daily life. When Webster broke this convention and included slang words in his dictionary, critics accused him of polluting the English language. But he argued that these words captured local variations of language— a vital part of what made American English unique. He also believed spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, and that we should write the way we speak as much as possible. Still, Webster’s own opinions influenced the words he included and the way he defined them. He excluded slang words from Black communities because he didn’t consider them proper. And when he defined “woman,” he added that “women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.”
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
noah webster |
2 |
united states |
2 |
english language |
2 |
slang words |
2 |
Important Words
- accused
- added
- american
- americans
- argued
- believed
- black
- broke
- captured
- communities
- complex
- convention
- critics
- daily
- defined
- describe
- dictated
- dictionaries
- dictionary
- documenting
- english
- excluded
- flexible
- included
- influenced
- language
- life
- local
- mild
- officialize
- opinions
- part
- people
- pitiful
- polluting
- proper
- rules
- slang
- soft
- sought
- speak
- spelling
- spoke
- time
- unique
- unnecessarily
- variations
- vital
- webster
- words
- write