Evening star., 1963-04-07

Of the unabridged Webster
/ New Collegiate being CollD
ravelin, twitterboned, greazed.
buttered bun, mental reserva-
ton, beluted, delucidated, are
not.
Every abridged dictionary
must be selective, but Coll7
omits thousands Of difficult
words in favor of thousands
Of phrases the meanings Of
which are easily inferable
from the meaning of the
component parts, and thou
sands Of words with separate
entries for the verb and
noun. Each Of the following
has a separate entry in COLT:
ITO winter = KILL" wire
rope (rope formed wholly or
chiefly of wires), !" ITO quoin
Ito equip -. with quoins),"
"self-praise (praise of one
self)." "self-regulating (reg-
ulating oneself)," almost
seven columns more Of these
self-evident self-words, boy
scout Ia member Of the Boy
Scouts Of America" girl
scout "a member Of the Girl
Scouts Of America) }" Ito pot
boil Ito produce potboilers)."
There are countless other
similar entries, but many
phrases the meanings Of
which are not self-evident
from the components are not
in Coll7-"mental reserva-
tion," clean breast" and
clean slate" are good ex-
amples.
"Gamesmanship" is curl
ously defined in Coll7 with
out mention Of its coiner as
"the art Of winning games
by doubtful expedients with
out actually violating the
rules" but doesn't Potter say
without actually cheating"2
Few of the important coin
ages Of Gerard Manley Hop
kins, now widely used, can I
find, and even sprung
rhythm" and "outride" (the
latter in the oxford English
Dictionary Of 1881 are de-
fined without reference to
their creator who explained
them succinctly.
A few definitions are beau
tifully concise and arrest
ing. That nebulous word
"chagrin" is, in Coll7, "dis-
quietude or distress Of mind
caused by humiliation, dis
appointment, or failure;
"quodlibet" Is "a whimsical
combination Of familiar mel
odies or texts" I will be
saved from future uncouth-
ness by the fact that the
plural Of mons venerls" is
not what I thought but
monies veneris." On the
other hand, how can the
practice in Coll7 of giving
as a subsidiary definition of
a thing that it resembles
the thing be justified?
E.g.: "Horehound
any Of several mints resem-
bling the horehound." What
ever horehound is, it is GER
tainly not something that
resembles horehound.
Something" is in Coll7 "a
person or thing of con-
sequence" when IL is pro-
nounced "sump'm";; but to
my ear 1t can mean the same
when pronounced slowly,
clearly and with emphasis.
Coll7 Is truly an abridged
dictionary when 1t shortens
W3's definition of Jolly
Roger" to omit any reference
to pirates or piracy. In W3
bubble and squeak" consists
of fried potatoes, cabbage and
meat, in Coll7 only potatoes
and cabbage. The verb hum
bug" is defined in a separate
entry as Ito engage In hum
bug" thus edging out one Of
at least 100000 words not in
the dictionary at all.
COLT gives, alphabetically
in the main listing. thou
sands Of foreign phrases -
not only ones taken into
English, but others Of no per-
ceivable pertinence. II one
cannot reasonably expect TO
find something In a work Of
reference, its inclusion is
dead weight. "Jeu d'esprit,"
Of course. but why "jeune
file" defined as "a young
girl" - stop nodding, Web
Ster), JeuneSse doree," but
not "gilded youth" "ame
damnee" wrongly defined II
Larousse Is correct), or
schwarmerei"7 On the other
hand "al dente" is omitted.
ION checking this paragraph,
! notice Coll7 makes the
error Of listing without COM
ment "gild the lily" One
paints lilies. gilds gold.)
Is II not pure perversity TO
list Beltsviile Small White
Turkey but not Chincoteat ne
oyster. soft-shell turtle, but
not soft shell crab2
II would be unkind 10 call
bad" any book that has held
me entranced for 10 days.
Coli is an opinionated and
colorful book. but / doubt
that II will make the grade
as a work Of reference. Nine