Difference between revisions of "Merriam-Webster"
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However, it has many errors and biases: | However, it has many errors and biases: | ||
| − | *The date for [[eminent domain]] is incorrect: 1738<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eminent%20domain</ref> | + | *The date for [[eminent domain]] is incorrect: 1738.<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eminent%20domain</ref> The term was used as early as 1625.<ref>[http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-4744152149731401/unrestricted/CONCLS.PDF American Jurispudence, 26, Second Edition, (Rochester, NY: Lawyers Corporation)]</ref> |
*The description of [[pogrom]] is not precisely correct. Merriam-Webster calls it an organized [[massacre]] of helpless people. Pogrom is a [[Yiddish]] term used in [[Russian]] beginning in the late 1800s to describe an organized campaign of [[violence]] (not always a "massacre") against [[Jewish]] people in [[Russia]]. | *The description of [[pogrom]] is not precisely correct. Merriam-Webster calls it an organized [[massacre]] of helpless people. Pogrom is a [[Yiddish]] term used in [[Russian]] beginning in the late 1800s to describe an organized campaign of [[violence]] (not always a "massacre") against [[Jewish]] people in [[Russia]]. | ||
*The entry for Yiddish is too narrow in describing it as a [[language]] of Jewish residents and descendants of only central and eastern [[Europe]]. Yiddish is spoken worldwide. | *The entry for Yiddish is too narrow in describing it as a [[language]] of Jewish residents and descendants of only central and eastern [[Europe]]. Yiddish is spoken worldwide. | ||
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*The definition of [[group theory]] uses "group" to define itself. Worse, the definition is so vague as to be useless ("finding all [[mathematics|mathematical]] groups and determining their properties"). | *The definition of [[group theory]] uses "group" to define itself. Worse, the definition is so vague as to be useless ("finding all [[mathematics|mathematical]] groups and determining their properties"). | ||
For a criticism of the dictionary treatment of the "Common Era," see [[CE]]. | For a criticism of the dictionary treatment of the "Common Era," see [[CE]]. | ||
| + | *Merriam-Webster resists including new [[conservative]] terms, such as [[judicial activism]], which dates back to 1947 and has been repeatedly used by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1967, yet is still not included by Merriam-Webster.<ref>See [[Essay:Best New Conservative Words]].</ref> | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 00:12, March 6, 2009
Merriam-Webster is the leading dictionary in America, and the descendant of Noah Webster's dictionaries.
However, it has many errors and biases:
- The date for eminent domain is incorrect: 1738.[1] The term was used as early as 1625.[2]
- The description of pogrom is not precisely correct. Merriam-Webster calls it an organized massacre of helpless people. Pogrom is a Yiddish term used in Russian beginning in the late 1800s to describe an organized campaign of violence (not always a "massacre") against Jewish people in Russia.
- The entry for Yiddish is too narrow in describing it as a language of Jewish residents and descendants of only central and eastern Europe. Yiddish is spoken worldwide.
- Capital is poorly defined as accumulated goods, or the value of those goods, or net worth. It is more commonly used to mean liquid assets such as cash, stocks, bonds that can be easily used to acquire goods and services.
- The definition of group theory uses "group" to define itself. Worse, the definition is so vague as to be useless ("finding all mathematical groups and determining their properties").
For a criticism of the dictionary treatment of the "Common Era," see CE.
- Merriam-Webster resists including new conservative terms, such as judicial activism, which dates back to 1947 and has been repeatedly used by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1967, yet is still not included by Merriam-Webster.[3]
