Awesome! Thank you for the info. It makes sense that some of the less used or useful words of Shakespeare and Chaucer might still need to be in the dictionary. :-)
Love the dictionary question and answer! I have often wondered what it took for a word to make it into the dictionary. The word “ghost” history is fascinating, especially with how prevalent it is today. Thank you for all the research and resources (I do love the OED). Now, does a word ever get expelled from the dictionary? If so, why? Things that make this fellow nerd go “hmm”. :-)
Oooh, yes, to answer your question: basically a word gets removed if it really, really falls out of usage and can be proven to have fallen out of use for a long time. (The only exception seems to be for certain words that only appear in Shakespeare or Chaucer; since their works are still so widely read, lexicographers figured some of the basically obsolete words used in those works should remain in the dictionary if those works are still being used.)
You can find the full transcript for the episode of the "Word Matters" podcast that discusses this here:
I really like this podcast! If you're looking for quick word bytes, this is a good place to start! Plus, one of the hosts (Ammon Shea) is the author who penned a quote I cited in this letter!
Awesome! Thank you for the info. It makes sense that some of the less used or useful words of Shakespeare and Chaucer might still need to be in the dictionary. :-)
Love the dictionary question and answer! I have often wondered what it took for a word to make it into the dictionary. The word “ghost” history is fascinating, especially with how prevalent it is today. Thank you for all the research and resources (I do love the OED). Now, does a word ever get expelled from the dictionary? If so, why? Things that make this fellow nerd go “hmm”. :-)
Hi there! Yay, thank you so much!
Oooh, yes, to answer your question: basically a word gets removed if it really, really falls out of usage and can be proven to have fallen out of use for a long time. (The only exception seems to be for certain words that only appear in Shakespeare or Chaucer; since their works are still so widely read, lexicographers figured some of the basically obsolete words used in those works should remain in the dictionary if those works are still being used.)
You can find the full transcript for the episode of the "Word Matters" podcast that discusses this here:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-matters-podcast/episode-61-words-dropped-from-the-dictionary#:~:text=While%20we%20tend%20to%20focus,sometimes%20shed%20a%20few%20words.
I really like this podcast! If you're looking for quick word bytes, this is a good place to start! Plus, one of the hosts (Ammon Shea) is the author who penned a quote I cited in this letter!