![]() ![]() However, the pandemic has seen at least two drug names jump into public discourse. For example, you’ll see Ritalin and Oxycontin in the dictionary, but you won’t see Aripiprazole. This is the case for the names of drugs, since there are many thousands of these. Traditionally, dictionary editors include scientific and technical terms only if they achieve some degree of currency outside of their disciplines. For example, one of the effects of the pandemic is that it’s brought previously obscure medical terms to the forefront of everyday speech. The special, coronavirus-related updates give us a glimpse into how language can quickly change in the face of unprecedented social and economic disruption. The September update, for example, includes “ craftivist” and “ Cookie Monster.” Something old, something new The quarterly updates provide a list of new words and revisions. Due to its size, this third edition will not appear in printed form, and these revisions may not be completed until 2034.Īt the same time, the editors continue to document the language as it grows, changes and evolves. For this new edition, the editors have been revising definitions dating from the first edition that are, in many cases, over a century old. In March 2000, the dictionary launched an online version. A digital release, on CD-ROM, followed in 1992. This is the version you’ll find in most libraries. Over the ensuing years, additional volumes of new words were published to supplement the first edition, and these were integrated into a second edition that appeared in 1989. ![]() In 1884, parts of the first edition were released. The Oxford English Dictionary aspires to be the most extensive and complete record of the language and its history. They’ve also documented the creation of new word blends based on previously existing vocabulary. Most of the coronavirus-related changes that the editors have noted have to do with older, more obscure words and phrases being catapulted into common usage, such as reproduction number and social distancing. They claim, for example, that the pandemic has produced only one truly new word: the acronym COVID-19. In the late spring, however, and again in July, the dictionary’s editors released special updates, citing a need to document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the English language.Īlthough the editors have documented many coronavirus-related linguistic shifts, some of their observations are surprising. ![]() These updates have typically been made available in March, June, September and December. For the previous 20 years, they had issued quarterly updates to announce new words and meanings selected for inclusion. In April, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary did something unusual. ![]()
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