Edward Nye
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198160120
- eISBN:
- 9780191673788
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198160120.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the ...
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‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the age-old question ‘What is beauty?’, but formulated, also, to respond to contemporary concerns. This book considers a wide range of authors from these two perspectives and draws the following conclusions: etymology is a theory of poetry; dictionaries of synonymy, prosody, and metaphor are theories of preciosity; and Sensualism is a theory of artistic representation. The background to these contentions is outlined in Chapter One, in which the book traces the rise of the term ‘nuances’ as an attempt by contemporary authors to understand representation in art as a rationalisation of chaotic reality. The demise of these contentions at the end of the century is described in the last chapter, in which the dominant language theory of the day is shown to be antagonistic to the study of art and literature. Theories of language are no longer an answer to the question ‘What is beauty?’Less
‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the age-old question ‘What is beauty?’, but formulated, also, to respond to contemporary concerns. This book considers a wide range of authors from these two perspectives and draws the following conclusions: etymology is a theory of poetry; dictionaries of synonymy, prosody, and metaphor are theories of preciosity; and Sensualism is a theory of artistic representation. The background to these contentions is outlined in Chapter One, in which the book traces the rise of the term ‘nuances’ as an attempt by contemporary authors to understand representation in art as a rationalisation of chaotic reality. The demise of these contentions at the end of the century is described in the last chapter, in which the dominant language theory of the day is shown to be antagonistic to the study of art and literature. Theories of language are no longer an answer to the question ‘What is beauty?’
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then ...
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This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then part of the British Empire. Dictionaries by Hotten and Farmer and Henley are covered in particular detail. By the end of the period, war, the Depression, and prohibition all played a vital role in determining what type of dictionaries were being produced.Less
This book provides a survey of dictionaries of slang and cant (the language of thieves and beggars) in the period 1859-1936. It covers Britain, American, Australia, India, and other countries then part of the British Empire. Dictionaries by Hotten and Farmer and Henley are covered in particular detail. By the end of the period, war, the Depression, and prohibition all played a vital role in determining what type of dictionaries were being produced.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people ...
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This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people for the people. It is still frequently used for reference, but its contents are often unreliable, particularly the etymologies.Less
This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people for the people. It is still frequently used for reference, but its contents are often unreliable, particularly the etymologies.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines three dictionaries combining English slang with other languages and slangs. Baumann's Londinismen presents English slang to a German-speaking audience; Barrère's Argot and Slang ...
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This chapter examines three dictionaries combining English slang with other languages and slangs. Baumann's Londinismen presents English slang to a German-speaking audience; Barrère's Argot and Slang presents French slang for an English-speaking audience, with English slang synonyms; Barrère and Leland's Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant attempts to cover American and Australian slang as well as British.Less
This chapter examines three dictionaries combining English slang with other languages and slangs. Baumann's Londinismen presents English slang to a German-speaking audience; Barrère's Argot and Slang presents French slang for an English-speaking audience, with English slang synonyms; Barrère and Leland's Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant attempts to cover American and Australian slang as well as British.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines Farmer and Henley's seven volume Slang and its Analogues, a historical dictionary intended to complement the Oxford English Dictionary in part by defining terms that that volume ...
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This chapter examines Farmer and Henley's seven volume Slang and its Analogues, a historical dictionary intended to complement the Oxford English Dictionary in part by defining terms that that volume was not allowed to include. The chapter concentrates particularly on their changing methodology as the dictionary progressed.Less
This chapter examines Farmer and Henley's seven volume Slang and its Analogues, a historical dictionary intended to complement the Oxford English Dictionary in part by defining terms that that volume was not allowed to include. The chapter concentrates particularly on their changing methodology as the dictionary progressed.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines other British slang dictionaries of the period. Some dictionaries explain British slang to an American audience and others look back on the slang of bygone times. Several are ...
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This chapter examines other British slang dictionaries of the period. Some dictionaries explain British slang to an American audience and others look back on the slang of bygone times. Several are derived from or intended to supplement Farmer and Henley. They include the first dictionary of rhyming slang.Less
This chapter examines other British slang dictionaries of the period. Some dictionaries explain British slang to an American audience and others look back on the slang of bygone times. Several are derived from or intended to supplement Farmer and Henley. They include the first dictionary of rhyming slang.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines general American dictionaries of slang. Several of the glossaries mentioned in this chapter were designed to explain American slang to a British audience, and at least one was ...
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This chapter examines general American dictionaries of slang. Several of the glossaries mentioned in this chapter were designed to explain American slang to a British audience, and at least one was derived from a dictionary of British slang. One of the concerns of this chapter is the problem of youth, as seen in the 1920s.Less
This chapter examines general American dictionaries of slang. Several of the glossaries mentioned in this chapter were designed to explain American slang to a British audience, and at least one was derived from a dictionary of British slang. One of the concerns of this chapter is the problem of youth, as seen in the 1920s.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines American college slang dictionaries such as those of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. These are less nostalgic than the British equivalents, and tend to embrace the present. They ...
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This chapter examines American college slang dictionaries such as those of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. These are less nostalgic than the British equivalents, and tend to embrace the present. They appear to have played a role in distinguishing the numerous colleges' individual identities.Less
This chapter examines American college slang dictionaries such as those of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. These are less nostalgic than the British equivalents, and tend to embrace the present. They appear to have played a role in distinguishing the numerous colleges' individual identities.
Werner Hüllen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199553235
- eISBN:
- 9780191720352
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553235.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Lexicography
The following statements are prerequisite for the ensuing discussions: Synonyms are words with partially overlapping meanings. They can be used either in their identical or in their differing parts. ...
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The following statements are prerequisite for the ensuing discussions: Synonyms are words with partially overlapping meanings. They can be used either in their identical or in their differing parts. They have been collected for centuries with pertinence to both these properties. So have topical dictionaries, which collect words with a semantic affinity. Roget merged the two types of books. Like texts, his thesaurus has a semantic macrostructure, a syntactic microstructure, and pragmatic structures which oscillate between the two. Rather modern concepts like fields or frames, but also prototypes, are prefigured here.Less
The following statements are prerequisite for the ensuing discussions: Synonyms are words with partially overlapping meanings. They can be used either in their identical or in their differing parts. They have been collected for centuries with pertinence to both these properties. So have topical dictionaries, which collect words with a semantic affinity. Roget merged the two types of books. Like texts, his thesaurus has a semantic macrostructure, a syntactic microstructure, and pragmatic structures which oscillate between the two. Rather modern concepts like fields or frames, but also prototypes, are prefigured here.
Werner Hüllen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199553235
- eISBN:
- 9780191720352
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553235.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Lexicography
Obviously, the human mind stores words in series. A typology of such is set up: strict seriality, natural seriality, script seriality, schematic seriality, semantic fields, frames, prototypical ...
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Obviously, the human mind stores words in series. A typology of such is set up: strict seriality, natural seriality, script seriality, schematic seriality, semantic fields, frames, prototypical seriality, and seriality by feature distinction. Such series can be found in thesauri but not in alphabetical dictionaries.Less
Obviously, the human mind stores words in series. A typology of such is set up: strict seriality, natural seriality, script seriality, schematic seriality, semantic fields, frames, prototypical seriality, and seriality by feature distinction. Such series can be found in thesauri but not in alphabetical dictionaries.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0010
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines slang dictionaries of the First World War. The Australian examples have received considerable attention, but not in the context of similar dictionaries published at the time. ...
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This chapter examines slang dictionaries of the First World War. The Australian examples have received considerable attention, but not in the context of similar dictionaries published at the time. Some were published in trench journals; others were designed to encourage recruitment, still others to expose the horrors of war. Their purposes and contents are thus extremely varied.Less
This chapter examines slang dictionaries of the First World War. The Australian examples have received considerable attention, but not in the context of similar dictionaries published at the time. Some were published in trench journals; others were designed to encourage recruitment, still others to expose the horrors of war. Their purposes and contents are thus extremely varied.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0011
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter looks at some of the consequences of the First World War by grouping together dictionaries of the homeless. The earliest deal with the carefree life of the hobo, a popular figure in the ...
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This chapter looks at some of the consequences of the First World War by grouping together dictionaries of the homeless. The earliest deal with the carefree life of the hobo, a popular figure in the cinema of the between-wars period, while later ones consider the miseries of homeless orphaned children during the Depression.Less
This chapter looks at some of the consequences of the First World War by grouping together dictionaries of the homeless. The earliest deal with the carefree life of the hobo, a popular figure in the cinema of the between-wars period, while later ones consider the miseries of homeless orphaned children during the Depression.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter looks at dictionaries of cant. In other words, dictionaries of criminal language, bringing together glossaries from the farthest corners of the English-speaking world. Several of these ...
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This chapter looks at dictionaries of cant. In other words, dictionaries of criminal language, bringing together glossaries from the farthest corners of the English-speaking world. Several of these offer help to the police in detecting and detaining criminals. They offer a new insight into the glamorized world of the gangsters and speakeasies.Less
This chapter looks at dictionaries of cant. In other words, dictionaries of criminal language, bringing together glossaries from the farthest corners of the English-speaking world. Several of these offer help to the police in detecting and detaining criminals. They offer a new insight into the glamorized world of the gangsters and speakeasies.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0013
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter draws together glossaries dealing with the slang of various branches of the entertainment industry: the circus, carnival, and stage. Later glossaries deal with the slang of swing, which ...
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This chapter draws together glossaries dealing with the slang of various branches of the entertainment industry: the circus, carnival, and stage. Later glossaries deal with the slang of swing, which introduces the relationship between popular music and slang and particularly the influence of African-Americans on slang that is to be so evident in the next volume.Less
This chapter draws together glossaries dealing with the slang of various branches of the entertainment industry: the circus, carnival, and stage. Later glossaries deal with the slang of swing, which introduces the relationship between popular music and slang and particularly the influence of African-Americans on slang that is to be so evident in the next volume.
Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195367126
- eISBN:
- 9780199867356
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367126.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
Chapter 12 begins an analysis of the market conditions that supported Cody's course, chief of which was the anxiety about grammatical correctness that grew in the Anglo‐American tradition of language ...
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Chapter 12 begins an analysis of the market conditions that supported Cody's course, chief of which was the anxiety about grammatical correctness that grew in the Anglo‐American tradition of language and letters.Less
Chapter 12 begins an analysis of the market conditions that supported Cody's course, chief of which was the anxiety about grammatical correctness that grew in the Anglo‐American tradition of language and letters.
Ronald E. Emmerick
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter presents a speech that details the life and career of Harold Walter Bailey. It also addresses the question of whether he himself coined the phrase ‘hunting the hapax’. Bailey was very ...
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This chapter presents a speech that details the life and career of Harold Walter Bailey. It also addresses the question of whether he himself coined the phrase ‘hunting the hapax’. Bailey was very fond of hapaxes and he collected them not in order to do away with them but to try to account for them as what he would call ‘interesting words’. This approach has of course some justification when one is dealing with a language that is no longer spoken and that is known only as a result of studying a limited text corpus. In fact, however, Bailey's Dictionary of Khotan Saka contains hapaxes on almost every page, many of which will not survive the test of time—even though Bailey has been at great pains to defend them.Less
This chapter presents a speech that details the life and career of Harold Walter Bailey. It also addresses the question of whether he himself coined the phrase ‘hunting the hapax’. Bailey was very fond of hapaxes and he collected them not in order to do away with them but to try to account for them as what he would call ‘interesting words’. This approach has of course some justification when one is dealing with a language that is no longer spoken and that is known only as a result of studying a limited text corpus. In fact, however, Bailey's Dictionary of Khotan Saka contains hapaxes on almost every page, many of which will not survive the test of time—even though Bailey has been at great pains to defend them.
Ronald W. Langacker
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331967
- eISBN:
- 9780199868209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331967.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
Without contradiction, linguistic meaning is seen as residing in conceptualization and as having a social-interactive basis. Conceptualization is fundamentally imagistic rather than propositional. ...
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Without contradiction, linguistic meaning is seen as residing in conceptualization and as having a social-interactive basis. Conceptualization is fundamentally imagistic rather than propositional. Instead of there being a unique set of semantic primitives, there are different kinds of elemental conceptions, each basic in its own respect. Certain fundamental grammatical notions are semantically characterized both schematically, in terms of basic cognitive abilities, and prototypically, in terms of experientially grounded conceptual archetypes. Linguistic meanings do not reflect the world in any direct or straightforward manner, but rather embody particular ways of construing the situations described, often involving imagination and mental constructions. There is no specific boundary between linguistic and extralinguistic aspects of lexical meanings (which are better likened metaphorically to encyclopedia entries rather than dictionary entries), nor between semantics and pragmatics. Hence semantics is only partially (not fully) compositional. An expression derives its meaning by flexibly invoking an open-ended set of cognitive domains, i.e. concepts or conceptual complexes of any degree of complexity. These domains are connected in various ways, e.g. by overlap, inclusion, and metaphorical correspondences. There is no clear distinction between domains and mental spaces.Less
Without contradiction, linguistic meaning is seen as residing in conceptualization and as having a social-interactive basis. Conceptualization is fundamentally imagistic rather than propositional. Instead of there being a unique set of semantic primitives, there are different kinds of elemental conceptions, each basic in its own respect. Certain fundamental grammatical notions are semantically characterized both schematically, in terms of basic cognitive abilities, and prototypically, in terms of experientially grounded conceptual archetypes. Linguistic meanings do not reflect the world in any direct or straightforward manner, but rather embody particular ways of construing the situations described, often involving imagination and mental constructions. There is no specific boundary between linguistic and extralinguistic aspects of lexical meanings (which are better likened metaphorically to encyclopedia entries rather than dictionary entries), nor between semantics and pragmatics. Hence semantics is only partially (not fully) compositional. An expression derives its meaning by flexibly invoking an open-ended set of cognitive domains, i.e. concepts or conceptual complexes of any degree of complexity. These domains are connected in various ways, e.g. by overlap, inclusion, and metaphorical correspondences. There is no clear distinction between domains and mental spaces.
Roger W. Shuy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195328837
- eISBN:
- 9780199870165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195328837.003.0018
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
A large manufacturer of antifreeze named its new product LongLife 460, while a smaller competitor had already marketed its product under the name LongLife. The smaller company sued the larger one, ...
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A large manufacturer of antifreeze named its new product LongLife 460, while a smaller competitor had already marketed its product under the name LongLife. The smaller company sued the larger one, charging that consumers would likely be confused. The major issue to be resolved was whether the name was generic, which could open it to use by others, or whether it was suggestive, which could mean that the original user could protect its use. The language data in this case consisted of dictionary entries, product labels, press releases, and media references. Because no dictionary listed “long life” as a single entry, the defendant tried to cite the words separately to show that the meaning was generic. It also cited “long-lived,” which was shown to be grammatically nonequivalent, and cited the only one of the eighteen dictionary senses of “life” that referred to inanimate life, the one that suited its case best. But this example actually showed the metaphoric nature of the expression, indicating that it was suggestive. The defendant also argued that the expression “long life” was the generic term for a class of antifreeze products, concluding that both products had generic names that were not protectable. Electronic searches showed this not to be the case, with the most common reference to the class of products being “extended life products,” not “long life products.”Less
A large manufacturer of antifreeze named its new product LongLife 460, while a smaller competitor had already marketed its product under the name LongLife. The smaller company sued the larger one, charging that consumers would likely be confused. The major issue to be resolved was whether the name was generic, which could open it to use by others, or whether it was suggestive, which could mean that the original user could protect its use. The language data in this case consisted of dictionary entries, product labels, press releases, and media references. Because no dictionary listed “long life” as a single entry, the defendant tried to cite the words separately to show that the meaning was generic. It also cited “long-lived,” which was shown to be grammatically nonequivalent, and cited the only one of the eighteen dictionary senses of “life” that referred to inanimate life, the one that suited its case best. But this example actually showed the metaphoric nature of the expression, indicating that it was suggestive. The defendant also argued that the expression “long life” was the generic term for a class of antifreeze products, concluding that both products had generic names that were not protectable. Electronic searches showed this not to be the case, with the most common reference to the class of products being “extended life products,” not “long life products.”
Ann Moss
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199249879
- eISBN:
- 9780191697838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199249879.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses some of the dictionaries that were used in the Renaissance lexicography. One of these is the Catholicon, which was a large monolingual Latin dictionary that had encyclopaedic ...
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This chapter discusses some of the dictionaries that were used in the Renaissance lexicography. One of these is the Catholicon, which was a large monolingual Latin dictionary that had encyclopaedic features. This dictionary contained some proper names and explanations of words that were often extended well beyond their basic equivalents.Less
This chapter discusses some of the dictionaries that were used in the Renaissance lexicography. One of these is the Catholicon, which was a large monolingual Latin dictionary that had encyclopaedic features. This dictionary contained some proper names and explanations of words that were often extended well beyond their basic equivalents.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567256
- eISBN:
- 9780191595073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567256.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical ...
More
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.Less
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.
