His purpose was to chronicle a much broader social change reflected in language. Some of his definitions suggest a kind of apolitical curmudgeonly annoyance at the disappearance of the old ways, a sense that much contemporary fashion and much material culture is crass and pretentious. But Mr. Anderson's dictionary and the examples he gave in his talk are clearly conservative thrusts delivered with a British accent in the continuing intellectual wars between left and right. In many instances, like that of accident, the dictionary doesn't so much show alterations of meaning as try to demonstrate how liberals have applied words to their favorite programs as a way to make them sound virtuous. Mr. Anderson gave the example of diversity in this regard, which has become less a value-free descriptive term indicating difference than a virtue in itself.
Compassion is another such case.