This is a very odd story.
The Telegraph is reporting that Oxford University Press has removed a number of words from their Junior Dictionary. The words were removed "to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society," according to the publisher. So "mistletoe", "goblin", and "minnow" are out. "Celebrity", "broadband" and "tolerant" are in.
Many of the words relate to Christianity, such as "bishop" and "abbey." Professor Alan Smithers of Buckingham University (could he have a MORE British name?) is quoted as saying, "We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us." While I understand Professor Smithers' (that name!) point, it ignores the other words that got axed. "Minnow" isn't specifically Christian as far as I know.
I'm all for multiculturalism. But how is it multicultural to remove words that relate to existing culture? Why not add some? And "celebrity"? I'd be perfectly happy if my kids didn't learn that word until they were old enough to be irritated by it.
Interestingly, the changes were discovered by Lisa Saunders, a Northern Irish mother of four. Apparently she "painstakingly" examined various editions of the Junior Dictionary and noticed that many words had been taken out, mostly since 2003. Ms. Saunders is particularly upset about the Christian word deletions. "The Christian faith still has a strong following...To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it." Hopefully even schools that aren't as concerned about Christianity as she is will consider a different dictionary. Plenty of time for kids to learn the word "mp3 player" on their own.
Regardless of whether or not you feel this is an attack on the Christian faith, I think this may be a book to avoid. (It's meant for children 7 and up.) The Junior Dictionary from the storied publisher (keep in mind that this is Oxford University Press, not Johnny Bluejeans Books N' Crap) still contains 10,000 words. But the words they took out and added seem like really dumb choices.
Source: telegraph
Image: Amazon.com
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