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

  1. opinions
  2. english
  3. defined
  4. rules
  5. included
  6. words
  7. describe
  8. 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

  1. accused
  2. added
  3. american
  4. americans
  5. argued
  6. believed
  7. black
  8. broke
  9. captured
  10. communities
  11. complex
  12. convention
  13. critics
  14. daily
  15. defined
  16. describe
  17. dictated
  18. dictionaries
  19. dictionary
  20. documenting
  21. english
  22. excluded
  23. flexible
  24. included
  25. influenced
  26. language
  27. life
  28. local
  29. mild
  30. officialize
  31. opinions
  32. part
  33. people
  34. pitiful
  35. polluting
  36. proper
  37. rules
  38. slang
  39. soft
  40. sought
  41. speak
  42. spelling
  43. spoke
  44. time
  45. unique
  46. unnecessarily
  47. variations
  48. vital
  49. webster
  50. words
  51. write