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Nun Dropped from Oxford Junior Dictionary
Surely, I thought, this must be a joke as I read a news headline saying that the word “nun” has been dropped from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. But it’s no joke. Lisa Saunders, a mom in Ireland, discovered that the new edition of the dictionary had dropped a bunch of words. Upon closer examination, she discovered that a number of Christian-related words were dropped including, “abbey, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, and vicar” (source: Catholic News Agency).
Interestingly, some of the new words in the latest edition of the dictionary reflect cultural shifts today such as the growth of new media. The dictionary now has words such as “blog” and “MP3 player”. A clever headline in the UK, notes the shift in the dictionary: “Clergyman blasts Oxford Junior Dictionary for replacing words ‘saint’ and ‘devil’ with ‘celebrity’ and ‘vandalism’” (source: The Mail).
So how are we to communicate our faith, our very selves, to children when the words we use no longer are definable? Will kids think that if it’s not in the dictionary, it’s not a real word or that it is somehow antiquated, no longer relevant?
Sister Patty Fawkner, SGS, a “Good Sams” Sister, has written a compelling piece about the disappearance of the word “nun” from the dictionary. Although I would like to quote every word of Where has the nun gone? because it’s a good piece, I’ll just highlight one significant quote and encourage you to read the rest of the piece.
Sister Patty wonders aloud in the piece if the removal of the word “nun” and related words is trying to say “something about the diminishment, in terms of numbers and influence, of various religious congregations.” A sobering thought, indeed, but Sister Patty doesn’t leave us there. She goes on and sheds new light on the meaning of declining numbers, showing that our response as nuns need not reflect the doom and gloom that the media associates with declining numbers. She writes:
It occurred to me, then, that the very decline of religious life carries an invitation for religious to live their lives with even greater integrity. Religious life, after all, is meant to be lived on the prophetic margin of both church and society, where status – even junior dictionary status – counts for very little but where seeking God and inclusive and compassionate love are intrinsic.
And religious life makes an invaluable contribution as it witnesses to the possibility of community in a world so desperate for relationships.
Further, religious life can offer to a sex-saturated world the example of celibacy that also promotes human flourishing. I am not speaking of life-denying celibacy, but that celibacy which believes that some people love best – deeply, generously and joyously – by making Jesus Christ the very centre of their life rather than any other person or project. (Source: Sisters of the Good Samaritan website)
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{ 14 comments }
My apologies for not having Nunday today. I wanted to post this as soon as I could. Besides, Nunday without the word “nun” would just be “day” and what fun would that be?
That is astounding. I wouldn’t buy that dictionary and probably many others wouldn’t either if they knew about this. Even if you are not a religious person, to me, these omissions indicate an unacceptable intellectual shallowness and dishonesty on the part of the publishers. I recently read an article about the self-destruction of British society- a nation losing its identity and culture. Well, keep on the path you have chosen and see what happens!
This whole issue may be troublesome for religious. But even with the dwindling numbers, I do believe religious will always thrive even if their influence is somewhat decreased. I find this type of thing especially disturbing for our society at large.
dee
At difficult times in our recent history many people have asked the question ‘” Where is God ? Why did He let this happen ” . Well , they keep taking God out of schools and public places and now any hint of religion is being removed from a ” dictionary ” . When will this end ? Only God knows the answer to that !! Peace , and God bless
Who uses a dictionary anymore? My own children (in HS now) use the online dictionary. A junior dictionary is going to be found in grammar school classrooms and no one will ever pull it from the shelf. No worries, Sisters.
Let us pray that this abuse of the language is reversed and the Junior Oxford uses as many as possible not just angling to gain celebrity by vandalism of English
Although I too question the decision, it should be noted that the editing is of the children’s edition of the dictionary (designed for 7 year olds), and is part of a major revision.
Here is a list of words removed:
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
and of words newly added:
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
The Oxford University Press is apparently getting a fair amount of heat from naturalists and biologists as well.
In the article below, an Anglican priest makes a good argument that the Oxford University Press did not exercise the best of judgment. The article also includes a brief defense by the OUP that I don’t find compelling- and I doubt many readers will. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1107770/Clergyman-blasts-Oxford-Junior-Dictionary-replacing-words-saint-devil-celebrity-vandalism.html
Best of regards, wishes and prayers to all.
David
the removal of words still in use terrifies me. it seems a sinister and deliberate shift in direction … the wrong direction… and for what??
What I really appreciate about this article is that Sister Patty addresses a bigger issue namely how we might respond to declining numbers. She reminds us that religious life and being a nun is not about how society or dictionary-publishers recognize us. Religious life is not even about what some Catholics would like it to be. Rather it’s about being a prophetic voice, living faithfully with Christ Jesus and compassionate love at the center of our lives.
I am not a Nun but do live a religous life as much as I can . In doing so , I notice the change in people that surround me . I notice for example , when some of my co workers are not getting along and squabble, they turn to me and apologize for the behavior. I don’t judge anyone as I am not perfect myself but these little courtesies (sp) happen all the time . They know I pray a lot , I have and show compassion to my co workers and patients , and try to live my life with all things pointing to God. I have some people that are close to me returning to Church and sharing the experience with me . So , I do believe taking the words out of the dictionary will not be the worst that can happen . To live a good life is important to model what religous life is like will bring people together more than a word. It bothered me at first when I read about it , but Sister Julie is right about living faithfully . I won’t go on and on , but I do think living and showing faithfullness is far better than words.
Sister Julie – I just had a chance to read Sister Patty’s full article, and I am so grateful that you posted it. I loved the way she ended: “May today’s nun continue to live her life with integrity and energy. May she find good words, appropriate words to communicate to the younger cyber-literate generation – and those who are older – what is important to her and, in turn, listen to what is important to them”. The issue of the dictionary deletions is irritating on a whole lot of levels, but I love that she does not lose sight of the primary issue for any of us, no matter who we are and how we live: relationship is a constant dynamic, the most basic dynamic… and it continues, despite changing factors and conditions (even hostile factors and conditions, and those that feel diminishing), and each of us has a profound opportunity to shape that relationship if only we will. I love that she turns her attention away from her identity as a religious in the sense that it is “hers” and thus to be protected as “hers” and instead suggests that her identity is itself, first and foremost, a relationship and requires generosity and other-centeredness. Just as the identity of the trinity is, in its essence, a relationship and the Real Presence is, its essence, a relationship. I love that, and thnk you for sharing that, Sister Julie (and now my dog wants to go for a walk in his very spanky Mardi Gras beads!) Jean
David K., thank you for the lead information. Though I detest that anything is ever edited from a dictonary, I was appalled at the words that were installed. Some of the deleations I attribute from the decline of the agriaian society (long gone) but other words such as celebrity, citizenship, commonsense and democratic, I am astonished that those were not included years ago. The tradgedy is not that those words were removed but that the others were not included long ago.
This is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard (well, that’s not true, I’ve heard stranger things). I thought dictionaries were supposed to include all known words that exist. I’m pretty sure the word “nun” still exists, or we’d all be visiting an imaginary blog (now wouldn’t that be fun) . The words omitted aren’t even uncommon words. Very strange.
Personally, I’m offended that they took out “porridge”. I mean seriously, how am I supposed to describe my dinner now. Some people.
Now I wonder if the words “dolt” and “short-sighted” are defined by this, um, short-sighted decision.
There’s also something I’ve always wondered about dictionaries: why would the editors remove uncommon words? Think about it: nobody goes to the dictionary to look up known words. It’s words one doesn’t know, or has no experience of, that need to be in the dictionary. Here in the US, that would include “vicar” and even “vicarage”, and definitely “bullock”, “cygnet”, and “drake”.
As an educator, I am beffudled. As a Catholic, I’m insulted.