Ten reasons not to buy the Oxford Junior Dictionary this Christmas
In 2008 mother-of-four Lisa Saunders noticed that the new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary had lost a host of familiar words, and had gained some new ones. Mrs Saunders was concerned to see the loss of words associated with the Church, such as Altar, Bishop and Chapel. In had come Apparatus, Blog and Creep. Then in Gossip from the Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales author Sara Maitland pointed out that it was the language of nature that was hardest-hit in the OJD's cull: words like Acorn, Bluebell and Catkin. Childhood in the Oxford University Press's world has shifted from one of nature and Christmas, to one of celebrity, cyberspace and fear of strangers.
Six years and another edition on, half a dozen cohorts of the OJD's target market have now been provided with a lexicography for the increasingly interior, solitary and urbanised world they inhabit rather than enthused with words to describe a world they have yet to explore.
In the days before Christmas we will celebrate some lost words and call for them to be reinstated. We start today with ten of the words you won't find in recent editions of the OJD.
Six years and another edition on, half a dozen cohorts of the OJD's target market have now been provided with a lexicography for the increasingly interior, solitary and urbanised world they inhabit rather than enthused with words to describe a world they have yet to explore.
In the days before Christmas we will celebrate some lost words and call for them to be reinstated. We start today with ten of the words you won't find in recent editions of the OJD.
photo: Friedrich Böhringer via Wikimedia Commons Acorn Acorns, and the mighty oaks a few of them will become, play a vital role in forest ecology. Ironically, food chain is one of the new terms added to the Junior Dictionary, while the acorn, and many other vital parts of the food chain, have been taken out.
Making tiny tea-sets from acorn cups, or drawing faces on the acorns to create strange woodland creatures - we all did it.
Making tiny tea-sets from acorn cups, or drawing faces on the acorns to create strange woodland creatures - we all did it.
photo: Andy Hay (rspb-images.com) Bluebell In a Plantlife survey the bluebell was overwhelmingly voted the nation’s favourite flower, revealing a strong cultural connection and a national love of the stunning carpets they form in our ancient woods each spring.
The UK has around 50% of the world’s population making our bluebell woodlands unique and internationally important.
In suburban areas, most bluebells are hybrids due to the invasiveness of the garden variety, the Spanish bluebell.
The UK has around 50% of the world’s population making our bluebell woodlands unique and internationally important.
In suburban areas, most bluebells are hybrids due to the invasiveness of the garden variety, the Spanish bluebell.
photo: Laurence Rose Buttercup Do you like butter? Generations of children have grown up holding buttercups under their chins to see if they do.
The origin of the name appears to come from a belief that it gave butter its golden hue. In reality buttercups are poisonous to cattle and are often left uneaten.
The origin of the name appears to come from a belief that it gave butter its golden hue. In reality buttercups are poisonous to cattle and are often left uneaten.
photo: Mike Richards (rspb-images.com) Kingfisher Every budding birdwatcher's eye is drawn to the page with the kingfisher on it. Possibly our brightest bird, yet difficult to see: a real test for a young naturalist's fieldcraft.
But sit quietly, and it is not unheard of for one to suddenly appear on the tip of a fishing-rod.
But sit quietly, and it is not unheard of for one to suddenly appear on the tip of a fishing-rod.
Before we continue - why does this matter? Firstly, compared with a generation ago, when 40% of children regularly played in natural areas, now only 10% do so, while another 40% never play anywhere outdoors. Ever. Obesity, anti-social behaviour, friendlessness and fear are the acknowledged consequences. As they grow up (with a lower life expectancy than their parents - the first time in recorded history that has happened), we can expect an incomprehension of the natural world and an inability to manage its delicate balance, or to fix it when the balance goes wrong.
Although the starling is in serious decline, there are places where kids can still witness its jaw-dropping aerial displays. They just can't look up the bird as, along with the lark, the starling is already extinct in the pages of the Junior Dictionary. They can record the break-out of pussy willow buds in spring, but they can't check how to spell catkin.
And like a premature obituary to natural play, the conker is gone, along with the tree that bears it, as both the horse chestnut and its fruit have been excised. The joy of catching a minnow may still be had, but not written about. The Oxford University Press claims that a dictionary is for recording language and its trends, not governing it. But while the OJD's senior counterpart may add the occasional workaround or high muckety-muck, no word is ever deleted from the grown-up Oxford English Dictionary.
If children are to learn about ash, beech, brook, cowslip, fern, fungus, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, pasture, primrose, stoat, sycamore, violet, weasel and willow they will need an earlier edition. The latest offers MP3 Player, celebrity, voicemail, chatroom, cut and paste (to go with the extant words paste and cut) and the aforementioned creep.
If children are to learn about ash, beech, brook, cowslip, fern, fungus, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, pasture, primrose, stoat, sycamore, violet, weasel and willow they will need an earlier edition. The latest offers MP3 Player, celebrity, voicemail, chatroom, cut and paste (to go with the extant words paste and cut) and the aforementioned creep.
the magpie is no more
In the run-up to the latest edition, OUP put out a press release “revealing fascinating insights into British children’s use of language.” “Refreshingly”, it said, “OUP research clearly demonstrates that British children still love reading. Evidence of this is their magpie approach to words famous writers have previously invented.”
To look up what this means, chose your dictionary carefully. In the Oxford Junior the magpie is, er, no more.
To look up what this means, chose your dictionary carefully. In the Oxford Junior the magpie is, er, no more.
Our Christmas campaign
Every few days in the run-up to Christmas, NATURAL LIGHT will present more words lost from the OJD's world, including some seasonal shockers and many of the most cherished symbols of childhood enriched by nature.
And for last minute shoppers, we'll suggest some books to fill the gap under the tree where the OJD might have gone.... To start with, click the button for books loved by Project Wild Thing - a partnership dedicated to reconnecting kids and their families with the outdoors.
Why not add your recommendations?
And for last minute shoppers, we'll suggest some books to fill the gap under the tree where the OJD might have gone.... To start with, click the button for books loved by Project Wild Thing - a partnership dedicated to reconnecting kids and their families with the outdoors.
Why not add your recommendations?
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