Mind Your Words
July 17, 2009
Of the many hundreds of books I have cluttering my home (I just can’t let go!),
there is one in particular that is dog-eared and more than a little worse for wear
– my dictionary. Now, I have several but my Macquarie, which is Australia's national
dictionary and the bible for journalists in this country, is especially showing
the strain of being constantly thumbed through.
And I don’t mind admitting that I use it at every opportunity, even though I've
been dealing in the business of words for almost 30 years now. In that time, I've
learnt that when it comes to finding the exact word you want or discovering a word's
real meaning, complacency is our worst enemy.
That's why, even if you think you know what a word means (and it may have several
meanings), you should never resile from looking it up if there's a smidgin (also
spelt smidgen) of doubt involved.
This is especially important as the English language continues evolving and introduces
new words. Only last month (June 2009) the language acquired its millionth word,
which was, according to Global Language Monitor, 'Web 2.0', which is another of
many examples of how technology can effect changes in language. The Macquarie will
introduce 1,000 new words in its November edition, among them 'tweeting' (the act
of sharing thoughts and comments with a group of friends on the internet), ‘noddy’
(someone who always answers yes) and 'culturalism' (discrimination against someone
because of their culture, similar to racism or sexism).
Never make the mistake which many young journalists do now of relying on the computer
spell-check because the vast majority of PCs only carry American dictionaries and
word lists and these can be quite different to the way we do things. 'Center', 'harbor'
and 'capitalize' are just three examples of differences in US spellings.
In a nutshell, never be too proud to consult the tome that will become your lifelong
companion should you establish yourself as a writer. It's an important way of learning
the nuances and intricacies of this ever-changing and fascinating tool we use every
day of our lives – language.
Happy writing!
Gary Smith
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