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Dictionaries are more descriptive than prescriptive. That is, they describe words and how they are used; they do not determine what words are and how they are u
by scott_s 13y ago
Dictionaries are more descriptive than prescriptive. That is, they describe words and how they are used; they do not determine what words are and how they are used. Given that dictionaries are also conservative by nature - slow to change - it is unwise to appeal to a dictionary to determine how people will feel when they hear a word.
- cliveowen 13y agoShort of asking any person how they feel about a given word I'll stick to the dictionary and people will have to adapt at my "slow to change" use of the language.
- scott_s 13y agoWe're telling you how this particular set of people are likely to react. It's fair if you did not know, and referred to the best source you could find (the dictionary). But now you have more data, and can adapt now. A natural response is that you can't do this for all words with all people. But you don't need to do that. Once you learn how people respond to a word, you can change. It's how we learned what to say and what not to say in different contexts - surely you didn't check the dictionary every time someone told you "That's not appropriate here."