Difference between revisions of "Merriam-Webster"

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(correct date)
(revert to Aschlafly's original date, no evidence for change)
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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 term was used as early as 1125{{fact}}.
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*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{{fact}}.
 
*The date and description of [[pogrom]] is not precisely correct.  Merriam-Webster provides a date of 1903 and 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 date and description of [[pogrom]] is not precisely correct.  Merriam-Webster provides a date of 1903 and 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 only a [[language]] of Jewish residents and descendants of central and eastern [[Europe]].  Yiddish is spoken worldwide.
 
*The entry for Yiddish is too narrow in describing it as only a [[language]] of Jewish residents and descendants of central and eastern [[Europe]].  Yiddish is spoken worldwide.

Revision as of 20:02, February 28, 2008

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[Citation Needed].
  • The date and description of pogrom is not precisely correct. Merriam-Webster provides a date of 1903 and 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 only a language of Jewish residents and descendants of 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.

External Links

References

  1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eminent%20domain