The 6th edition of the SOED (2)

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (SOED) 0917 2007

The 6th edition of the dictionary, an abridged version of the respected Oxford English Dictionary, includes 2500 added words since the last edition,據說許多是環保相關字眼
另外一特色為:

English dictionary omits the hyphen

Normally updated editions of the Oxford English Dictionary win headlines for new word additions that serve to fatten out the already stocky books.

But the sixth edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is remarkable not for what it adds, but rather for what it omits.

Editors overseeing the new version have removed the hyphen out of 16,000 words, despite many of them being two-word compound nouns.

Ice-cream is now ice cream, post-modern is now postmodern, fig-leaf is now fig leaf, and pot-belly is now pot belly.

Optimistic linguists will say the omission is just a quirk of Shorter’s concise style, but traditionalists of the English language may worry.

Based on evidence from the Oxford Reading Programme, a network of researchers who provide examples of how people use words, “the hyphen seems to be on the way out.”

Some mainstream press reports say the reasoning is because people can no longer be bothered to reach for the hyphen key, when they write e-mails or text messages.

But Angus Stevenson, editor of the Shorter OED, said: “People are not confident about using hyphens anymore, they’re not really sure what they are for.”

Separately, the sixth edition is hailed as accurately charting the rise to prominence of ‘green’ issues in society, evidenced by the inclusion of “carbon-neutral,” “carbon footprint” and "Chelsea tractors.”

Other noteworthy additions include "WAGs" – to denote wives and girlfriends, “Webinar” – an online seminar, and “charette” – to denote a meeting or conference devoted to planning or problem-solving.

“Papped” – being photographed by the paparazzi, “brag book” – a photograph album and “size zero” to denote stick-thin models also make up 2,500 new words now in the Shorter OED.

Other spelling changes made as part of the updating of the text include cafe for café, fetus for foetus, kaftan for caftan, and raccoon for racoon.