Wednesday, September 07, 2011

The new Chambers rides to the rescue of pundigrion

In tapping into the language of the 21st century and rescuing old words, the latest edition of the dictionary is more vital than ever

The Observer,

September is the month when war breaks out in the classroom. As millions of schoolchildren come back from the long summer break, the big dictionary battalions (Oxford, Collins, Chambers, Penguin, Bloomsbury) mobilise for an autumn offensive, like the great powers of the first world war. Recruit readers young, goes the theory, and you have them for life.
Not always. About 10 years ago, I defected from Oxford to one of its rivals. Now, day to day, I'm inclined to consult Chambers, not the Concise Oxford. It's not just that Chambers is a monument of lexicographical excellence with roots deep in the Scottish enlightenment. Or that Philip Pullman says that Chambers is the one dictionary "I keep at my right hand". It's also that Chambers is a marvel of wit, clarity, wisdom and practicality.
At least it used to be. Like many totems of British book publishing, Chambers has been through a 21st-century crisis that nearly closed it down for ever and eventually saw its forced evacuation from Edinburgh.
In 2009, after failing to adapt to the digital revolution, and having been sold to Hachette UK, Chambers was faced with closure by its French corporate owner. The Scots protested about "cultural vandalism" and a vigorous rearguard action was launched, led by a ragtag army of MSPs and Margo MacDonald.
Inevitably, being Scotland, there was sarcasm. One Scottish newspaper described the 27 Chambers staff members threatened with redundancy as "white-haired, cardiganed, index-carded old duffers". In the end, Chambers survived, by the skin of its teeth, some of the "old duffers" moved south, and the dictionary became part of Hodder Education.
A fine Augustan mansion swallowed up in the faceless concrete of modernity: this, you might think, would be the end of the story. Not yet it isn't. The 12th edition of Chambers has just been published. Threatened with annihilation, it has come back fighting in the best Scottish tradition.
Chambers redux is a cornucopia of fire-new words, reflecting the extraordinary economic, social and cultural upheavals of our time; words such as "up-cycle", "double-dip", "globesity" (the global obesity epidemic) and "locavore" (someone who only eats locally produced food). It also recognises "neet", "flipping" (of MPs' expenses) and "bromance" (a close, but not sexual, relationship between two men).
McCrum's full piece can be read here.

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