The World's Most Obsolete Book: The Dictionary
Self-flagellating. Or rather just flagellating. That's the word I wanted to look up. Even though my director had defined it for everyone, a part of me just couldn't believe that it meant to hit oneself. I guess it sort of sounds like flogging, which is punishment by way of having things thrown at you, but flagellating just didn't sound like it meant to hit oneself. So, when I returned to my room after rehearsal, I decided to look up the word myself.
Just as I reached for my phone, I glanced at my bookshelf. The bookshelf in which half of one shelf is taken up by two large, hardcover Merriam-Webster books: a red dictionary and a yellow thesaurus. I bought both prior to my freshman year at Wagner because I knew I'd no longer have my family's decades old dictionary to reference when I was at school. The sad truth: I think I've used both books, collectively, 3 or 4 times in the last four years...
As kids, when my sister or I asked about the definition of a word, more often than not, my mom or grandmother would reply with "Check the dictionary." So we did. If they weren't busy, they'd help us find the word. Eventually, it got to the point where I stopped asking for specific definitions and instead asked to see the dictionary (we have a small living room and the thing always seems to be on a shelf partially hidden behind another piece of furniture and therefore almost always impossible for me to get myself).
My entire life we've only had one computer in the house (my grandmother had her laptop, of course, but my sis and I rarely ever asked to borrow it and if we did it was always for schoolwork), and while smart phones and iPads and other portable/mobile/internet capable electronics were beginning to become popular, we still only had one computer shared between three people (two students) with full, qwerty keyboard phones not capable of connecting to the internet. If we wanted to look up the definition or check the spelling of a word, we just couldn't immediately type into google "obsolete definition" and have the answer within a matter of seconds. If we wanted the definition, we'd have to pick up the very old, very large dictionary and physically look it up.
Now; however, I have a laptop, an iPad, an iPhone, and just like everyone else, will pick one (usually whatever is closest), open a web browser and type into it "obsolete definition". Within seconds, I have the definition I'm looking for and I barely have to do any work to find it. Technology has made our lives easier. But are they that much better?
I've always been a great speller. 7th grade English we took a "test" to see if we qualified for participation in the spelling bee. Unlike a practice bee, which usually works like an actual spelling bee, my teacher read off a list of words one at a time, and we had to write down their spelling. As a class we self-graded our papers as a student or our teacher spelled the word correctly. I was the only one in my class who got the most words correctly spelled, though I couldn't participate in the bee because the rule was you had to get at least 27 of the words spelled correctly and I was just shy of 27 (no, I'm not still bitter almost ten years later). My point is, I've always been a great speller, and I think part of that had to do with my looking through an actual dictionary for a definition. If I couldn't spell it, then I couldn't look it up. And flipping through the book to find the one thing you need, your brain is exposed to a plethora of other words and subconsciously takes note of them. Unfortunately, my spelling skills have been on the decline recently due to my added reliance on spellcheck on my phone. Not working to be sure I'm spelling something correctly makes it more likely I won't learn from the mistake and will keep repeating it. I believe the same holds true for dictionaries. If we're not actively looking for the definition, who's to say we'll remember it the next time we come across the word? I know I often have had to repeat a google session to find a word I knew I'd had already looked up, but just couldn't remember what it means.
Those of you who know me, know I hate e-books WITH.A.PASSION. If I'm reading, I want to hold the damn book in my hand and flip pages. I don't want to stare at my phone screen, which is only about a third the size of the average paperback. I don't want page 349 spanned across five pages. And I don't want to tap my phone to get to the next page. I'm adamant and optimistic that physical books will never be entirely obsolete; that they'll continue to produce them and my children and their children and their children's children and so forth, will get to experience the joys of reading a book they're holding in front of them. Despite my optimism, a small part of me has a very, very, very real fear that physical books will be completely replaced with e, audio, hologram, and whatever other technology the future brings. And that fear is justified because there is one book that has become obsolete due to the world's increased use of technology; and that book is the dictionary.
Just as I reached for my phone, I glanced at my bookshelf. The bookshelf in which half of one shelf is taken up by two large, hardcover Merriam-Webster books: a red dictionary and a yellow thesaurus. I bought both prior to my freshman year at Wagner because I knew I'd no longer have my family's decades old dictionary to reference when I was at school. The sad truth: I think I've used both books, collectively, 3 or 4 times in the last four years...
As kids, when my sister or I asked about the definition of a word, more often than not, my mom or grandmother would reply with "Check the dictionary." So we did. If they weren't busy, they'd help us find the word. Eventually, it got to the point where I stopped asking for specific definitions and instead asked to see the dictionary (we have a small living room and the thing always seems to be on a shelf partially hidden behind another piece of furniture and therefore almost always impossible for me to get myself).
My entire life we've only had one computer in the house (my grandmother had her laptop, of course, but my sis and I rarely ever asked to borrow it and if we did it was always for schoolwork), and while smart phones and iPads and other portable/mobile/internet capable electronics were beginning to become popular, we still only had one computer shared between three people (two students) with full, qwerty keyboard phones not capable of connecting to the internet. If we wanted to look up the definition or check the spelling of a word, we just couldn't immediately type into google "obsolete definition" and have the answer within a matter of seconds. If we wanted the definition, we'd have to pick up the very old, very large dictionary and physically look it up.
Now; however, I have a laptop, an iPad, an iPhone, and just like everyone else, will pick one (usually whatever is closest), open a web browser and type into it "obsolete definition". Within seconds, I have the definition I'm looking for and I barely have to do any work to find it. Technology has made our lives easier. But are they that much better?
I've always been a great speller. 7th grade English we took a "test" to see if we qualified for participation in the spelling bee. Unlike a practice bee, which usually works like an actual spelling bee, my teacher read off a list of words one at a time, and we had to write down their spelling. As a class we self-graded our papers as a student or our teacher spelled the word correctly. I was the only one in my class who got the most words correctly spelled, though I couldn't participate in the bee because the rule was you had to get at least 27 of the words spelled correctly and I was just shy of 27 (no, I'm not still bitter almost ten years later). My point is, I've always been a great speller, and I think part of that had to do with my looking through an actual dictionary for a definition. If I couldn't spell it, then I couldn't look it up. And flipping through the book to find the one thing you need, your brain is exposed to a plethora of other words and subconsciously takes note of them. Unfortunately, my spelling skills have been on the decline recently due to my added reliance on spellcheck on my phone. Not working to be sure I'm spelling something correctly makes it more likely I won't learn from the mistake and will keep repeating it. I believe the same holds true for dictionaries. If we're not actively looking for the definition, who's to say we'll remember it the next time we come across the word? I know I often have had to repeat a google session to find a word I knew I'd had already looked up, but just couldn't remember what it means.
Those of you who know me, know I hate e-books WITH.A.PASSION. If I'm reading, I want to hold the damn book in my hand and flip pages. I don't want to stare at my phone screen, which is only about a third the size of the average paperback. I don't want page 349 spanned across five pages. And I don't want to tap my phone to get to the next page. I'm adamant and optimistic that physical books will never be entirely obsolete; that they'll continue to produce them and my children and their children and their children's children and so forth, will get to experience the joys of reading a book they're holding in front of them. Despite my optimism, a small part of me has a very, very, very real fear that physical books will be completely replaced with e, audio, hologram, and whatever other technology the future brings. And that fear is justified because there is one book that has become obsolete due to the world's increased use of technology; and that book is the dictionary.
I'm sure many of you own a dictionary, and actually use it, but the majority of dictionary owners? I'm sure many of you don't even use it. You have it sitting on your bookshelf because you think you should have one or because you've had it from back when you did use it all of the time and just haven't bothered to throw it out or donate it or put it in a box of old things in the back of your closet; no matter the reason you have it, you know it just sits there collecting dust until you look at it and realize hey, I haven't used this in awhile. Why don't I look up the definition I need in the dictionary instead of googling it. And you do. And maybe you use it once or twice more, but eventually it's back to the phone, the tablet, the computer.
I have decided I'm going to try and use my dictionary and thesaurus every time I need to define something or look up different words because I just don't like the first one I thought of. Will I succeed? I have no clue; but I have to try. And I urge everyone else who still owns a physical dictionary and/or a thesaurus to do the same. Who knows, maybe you'll become a better speller along the way.
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