[NMScience] Nature Words Removed From Children's Dictionary

[Deb Thrall]

Nature Words Removed From Children's Dictionary


In order to make room for modern words like MP3 player, chatroom, and
database, the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary removed many
nature-related words as a result of the changing landscape. So BlackBerry
takes the place of blackberry, and so on. Read more in this Next Nature
article Children's dictionary dumps 'nature' words: 


http://www.nextnature.net/?p=3110 

To make way for modern tech terms such as BlackBerry, blog, voicemail and
broadband, the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary has opted to
drop terms pertaining <http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/551330>
to old nature.  No longer can a child check this dictionary and learn more
about the blackberry, dandelion, acorn, heron, otter, magpie, sycamore, or
willow.

According to Vineeta Gupta, who heads children's dictionaries at Oxford
University Press, changes in the world are responsible for changes in the
book. "When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots
of examples of flowers for instance," she said. "That was because many
children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the
environment has changed."

The 10,000 words and phrases in the junior dictionary were selected using
several criteria, including how often words would be used by young children.

Words taken out:

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade, carol, cracker,
holly, ivy, mistletoe, dwarf, elf, goblin, abbey, aisle, altar, bishop,
chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish,
pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar.

Adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet,
doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring,
kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox,
oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise,
raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry,
blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup,
canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker,
county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse,
hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek,
liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats,
pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish,
rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut,
willow

Words put in:
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export,
chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue.

Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep,
citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy,
boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee,
compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic,
donate, endangered, Euro.

Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration,
colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph.

Via EcoChildPlay
<http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/02/02/nature-words-dropped-from-childrens-dic
tionary/> . Thanks Ivo <http://www.ivovos.com/> .

 

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