What would Tolkien have thought of this?

[inzilbeth]

Theonering.net today had a piece about the latest Junior Oxford Dictionary  having removed many traditional, religious and rural words, replacing them with supposedly contemporary,  urban ones. Among those no longer considered of interest to kids are dwarf, elf and goblin.

As Tolkien's first civilian job was working on the Oxford Dictionary, I can't help but wonder what he would have thought of this.

Words taken out:

Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe

Dwarf, elf, goblin

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade

adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow

Words put in:

Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue

Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro

Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph

 

Comments

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I found this to be utterly appalling ... I tried to do a post on it yesterday but I just couldn't find the words (ironic, that!) To think that they consider "MP3 player" to be something a child needs to know over "decade" is beyond my comprehension. And the utter irony of including "endangered" while leaving out "cheetah" has me scratching my head. And the wholesale tossing out of words that reflect historical and religious heritage is very disturbing. I really do worry about the future of our children--I know I'm not British but the same sort of thing goes on here in the US. We're losing touch with our cultural, spiritual and even environmental heritage, thanks to those who would thrust society into a headlong rush into a pursuit of technology over spirituality and humanity. It would appear these editors would have, as Treebeard would put it, minds of metal.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Both you and Treebeard put it perfectly. This sort of craziness has been going on for decades here. There's always a political motive behind it. In the minds of some, "rural" and "religious" equates with middle class and is therefore to be outlawed. It makes me angry too.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I've heard "rural and religious" equated to "stupid and uneducated" or even less flattering appellations. *sigh*