By Ren Powers
English Language Learning Instructor
Since 2003, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary has annually selected the word of the year based on the number of searches of that word across their websites. In 2023, they declared that the word of the year was ‘authentic.’
The online buzz around this announcement got me thinking about dictionaries. With well over 100 million visitors per month, it’s clear the dictionary in its new cyber form is thriving. It’s lightning fast, can be easily kept up-to-date and you don’t need to lug around a five-pound book to use it. So, do we really need ‘authentic’ physical dictionaries anymore?
Online dictionaries are like language warehouses: they store each word on its own shelf, ready to be collected and brought to you with speed at the click of a button. If you’re standing at the pharmacy and just need to know what exactly that side effect listed on the bottle is, an online dictionary is a great option.
However, unlike an online dictionary, in which each word is smashed elbow-to-elbow with itself (beside each of its forms: adj: ‘authentic’, above its synonyms and antonyms: syn: ‘genuine, real’, ant: ‘fake, false’), each entry in a physical dictionary shares metaphorical shelf space with a range of words, any one of which might catch the eye of the searcher.
Looking for ‘authenticity’ in a physical dictionary could lead one to ‘autochthonic’ (sprung from the soil; developed from the place where found) or ‘autodact’ (one who is self-taught) or possibly ‘autotoscopy’ (either one of the twin bodies of a monstrosity consisting of two equal atrocities).
In this way, a physical dictionary is much more like a language library, allowing users to wander, to browse, to find something beyond what they were looking for. Physical dictionaries cultivate literacy, a love of language. They foster curiosity and exploration.
What a physical dictionary has that an online dictionary doesn’t is the spirit of adventure!
Family Literacy Week takes place across Canada January 21-28 as a way to celebrate adults and children reading and learning together. Every year Black Press Media community newspapers join with local groups to promote literacy.
