Saturday, March 25, 2017

Inside Mirriam-Webster’s Version Of The 21st Century Dictionary

 

There are only about 50 lexicographers working at dictionary companies in the United States today, Kory Stamper estimated. But their work, she believes, remains as vital as it was in Noah Webster’s day. “There’s something to having a bunch of nerds sitting in an office dispassionately reading lots and lots of material and distilling the meaning of a word as it’s been used in lots of places,” she said. “It really is this weird democratic process.”
 

How English Has Created A New Caste System In India

“Fluency in English is endemic of the deep class-based divisions that continue to plague Indian society. A 2014 report from the Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy in India found that only 20 percent of the population speaks English, and only 4 percent of the population speaks the language fluently. The report emphasizes that men in India who spoke fluent English earned 34 percent higher wages than those who had some fluency.”


 

No comments: