brainylady

Double-double

The second edition of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary -- with five thousand new words and word senses -- is set to be published this summer. (Here's an article.) I have a feeling that non-Canadians may be surprised to learn that there is indeed such a thing as Canadian English (besides "eh" and "hoser").

Barber [the dictionary's editor-in-chief] maintains that her favourite word discovery occurred during the work for the first edition, when she determined that "shit disturber" was, in fact, a specifically Canadian term (Americans apparently prefer "shit stirrer").

Who knew? It's not just the words themselves, either, but their definitions. "Marriage," for example, has been revised; in its definition, the previous reference to "a man and a woman" has been changed to "two people."

A picture of Sandra Schmirler should accompany the "sweep hard" definition of "hurry," don't you think? No one bellowed "Hurry! Hurry! Haaarrrrrd!" like she did. (Bill and I got totally swept up in the 1998 Olympic curling coverage.)

Look! Beatrix is a trendsetter! Ha. (She's going to the vet tonight, hopefully to get her stitches out and her cone off.)

Nice tattoos, but the corset! Ooch! (I think the photo is from the Long Beach pride parade.)

Here's a little optimism for you: "Bush can't win this election now. Kerry can only lose it."