How Dictionaries Reflect Culture and Politics

Monday, May 11 9:30 | a.m. – 12 noon
Bethany Congregational Church 556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara
VISTAS member price: $20; non-member price: $30

Presented by Ed Finegan
By no means “harmless drudges,” dictionary makers hold cultural, political, and religious views, and their dictionaries embody such views, often to the chagrin of dictionary users. A California lexical vigilante was arrested in 2022 for hate-fueled threats of violence to Merriam-Webster’s staff for definitions of words related to gender identity. Others are exercised over definitions of words like “insurrection” and “emoluments.” Noah Webster’s original 1828 dictionary is published today by a Christian organization agreeing with the bornagain lexicographer’s religious and political views. By contrast, the third edition of Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary was seen as so linguistically liberal that a rival publishing house tried buying the company, intending to suppress “the Third” and replace it with a conservative dictionary. This presentation discusses dictionaries not as sources of practical information about meaning, spelling, and pronunciation, but as works harboring political, religious, and socio-cultural values.