What's something you believed to be true but recently learned is actually false? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by 3volver@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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[-] HopingForBetter@lemmy.today 6 points 7 months ago

So, the dictionary is not a gold-standard.

It is, in fact, the opposite and in very simplified terms, just a book of how people currently pronounce words and their meaning today. Think of it more as a record book for the time it was printed, rather than a rule book; living languages are funny like that.

If you would like to know more, I highly recommend Word by Word written by Kory Stamper, one of the editors for the Merriam-Websters Dictionary.

this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024

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