Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:40:54 -0600
From: Dennis Baron debaron[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UIUC.EDU
Subject: Re: PC Dictionaries?
Actually I did a local interview on one of the tv stations and I mentioned exactly what Jesse said,
that all the major dictionaries had the same definitions, and all had appropriate usage warnings and
labels. The furor started when an article in the Sept. issue of Emerge magazine, which I haven't
seen yet, said that the m-w collegiate defined the word as black person and gave nothing to
indicate it was a derogatory usage. This decontextualized reference to the def. then escalated.
Dennis
_____
Dennis Baron, Acting Head italic phone: /italic 217-333-2390
Department of English italic fax: /italic 217-333-4321
University of Illinois italic email: /italic debaron[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uiuc.edu
608 S. Wright Street http://www.english.uiuc.edu/baron
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