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It’s just a bad example. The Oxford Dictionary is just a publication of Oxford University Press. A popular one perhaps, but fundamentally no different than a We
by jonathankoren 3y ago
It’s just a bad example. The Oxford Dictionary is just a publication of Oxford University Press. A popular one perhaps, but fundamentally no different than a Webster’s, or even say a Random House. Even giving it authority as a speller is suspect, since as an American, I can say with confidence that Oxford doesn’t know how to spell.
A better example would be a language academy, however English has never had a language academy, unlike French or Spanish, resulting in it being a stubbornly descriptivist, rather than prescriptivist phenomenon.
- dragonwriter 3y ago> Even giving it authority as a speller is suspect, since as an American, I can say with confidence that Oxford doesn’t know how to spell. The OED, in my experience, covers the varieties of English spelling quite well, and if you want no distractions as an American but can deal with less extravagantly complete coveraged, you can always use the OAD. Oxford seems to know how to spell quite well.
- andrewjl 3y agoOAD is no longer in print and has been superseded by the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD).
- seabass-labrax 3y ago> Even giving it authority as a speller is suspect, since as an American, I can say with confidence that Oxford doesn’t know how to spell. I had to give a chuckle at that, but seriously, the way in which words are spelt (ahem) in the OED is genuinely interesting! They use both -ize and -ise, for instance, choosing one or the other based on each individual word's etymology.
- jonathankoren 3y agoI recently saw an author on social media remarking that their editor complained that they were mixing American and British spellings, and they should just pick one. The author was confused by the statement, because they didn’t there was anything unusual going on. Then the penny dropped. They’re Canadian.
- School-Cotton 3y ago> I can say with confidence that Oxford doesn’t know how to spell The OED includes American spellings for all of its entries.