atw: Re: Youse
- From: "Geoffrey" <geoffrey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:30:49 +1100
Hi Daryl
There were two parts to Rebecca's email: that "youse" was in the Macquarie
and that it was accepted. The way you responded to her post gave me the
impression you were countering both. Thanks for making it clear that you
were only responding to her second point, about which I wholeheartedly
agree. Reputable dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive, texts.
The thread reminded me of the outrage in America when the third edition of
Webster's was published in the early 1960s. Pedants went apoplectic at some
of the entries (entries that would probably bother no-one these days). So
strong was the outrage that the conservative publisher James Par ton set
about creating a new dictionary: The American Heritage Dictionary. It came
out in 1969 and editions still roll off the press.
But this is not a dictionary that linguists and language teachers pay much
attention to. Why? Because the words in it, and their meanings, are selected
by a panel of folk chosen by the publisher. (The original panel included
film critics, broadcasters, cattle-ranchers and so on, folk whose knowledge
of linguistics couldn't be vouched for. And even then the publisher,
apparently, would sometimes ignore the panel's advice and include his own
meanings!) Can you imagine 100 folk from all walks of life trying to agree
on what words are suitable for inclusion in a dictionary and what
definitions to give them (and what definitions to exclude)? Laughable stuff.
You probably wouldn't find youse in it.
Cheers
Geoffrey Marnell
Principal Consultant
Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd
P: 03 9596 3456
M: 0419 574 668
F: 03 9596 3625
W: www.abelard.com.au
-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Daryl Colquhoun
Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012 6:10 AM
To: austechwriter list
Subject: atw: Re: Youse
Geoffrey:
> "youse" has been in the Macquarie for a while now.
True, but my original comment stands: There is no suggestion that "youse" is
"accepted", as Rebecca Caldwell asserted. My point is that the dictionary
_lists_ words; the dictionary does not make value judgements.
Emails to this address are automatically deleted as an anti-spam measure.
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