Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 12:24:27 -0500

From: Jesse T Sheidlower jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM

Subject: Re: Nominee: 1996 WOTY





Thanks for your update, Jesse, re "outsourcing" being in "all four

college dictionaries."



I did not know that there was a WOTY rule about dictionaries. Are there

other rules? Should I already know them? How do I remedy my deficiency?



I ask, partly because it seems to me that last year some WOTYs were

words that had been around for a long time (though, of course, not

necessarily in dictionaries).



John Algeo can correct me, but I think the rule is just that words

that are already in those dictionaries used by ANW are not eligible.

The word must be new _or_ newly prominent; the actual age is not necessarily

relevant (e.g. 1992's WOTY, _not!_ attested regularly since 1900).

(This has gone back and forth a number of times;

it used by "New WOTY," but we just dropped the "New.")



Re "outsource," I should point out that the definitions in

most of the dictionaries are somewhat inaccurate; I think three

of them only have the verbal noun, and several of them specify

"a nonunion or foreign supplier" rather than simply anything

done outside the company. No doubt the other three guys will revise

their entries, as we are doing.



Jesse Sheidlower

Random House Reference

jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com