“It’s been years since I opened a real dictionary. I guess my vote goes to saving the trees.” This was one of many reactions on Facebook to the Oxford University Press’s purported decision not to publish the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as the print dictionary market is shrinking.
While the OED is a multi-volume dictionary that takes decades to put together and OUP was only talking about this scarily comprehensive dictionary and not the many smaller ones that it will continue to publish, the controversy did throw up interesting observations on dictionary usage. To sum it up: it’s a dying art.
Chitra Sharma, vice principal, Delhi Public School South, says she has observed that “nowadays students use e-dictionaries more frequently.”
Sharma says, “Referring to online dictionaries is just more convenient,” adding, “But we stress on looking up the meaning in the printed dictionary. And once they’ve learnt the process, we let them choose what they are comfortable with (online or print).”
Kala Ramesh, lecturer, communication studies at Mount Carmel College, has seen a definite decline in printed dictionary usage.
To her, it doesn’t matter whether students refer to printed dictionaries or an online one as long as they don’t lose interest in words altogether.
Her generation, she says, was more keen on learning new words. “The problem with the current generation is that everything comes easy,” she says.
“For instance, one can post a poem on a website and gain traction within days, whereas in my day one had to go through a series of rejections before one of them would be published in a magazine.”
CS Bhagya, a final year grad student of Mount Carmel College, says: “I use printed dictionaries a lot. Sometimes I even sit and read the dictionary because I enjoy words. But nowadays, because I usually work on the computer while writing something, I resort to an online dictionary.”
Her classmate Madhavi Shivaprasad says she rarely uses dictionaries. Mostly, when she comes across a word that she isn’t familiar with, she infers the meaning by reading into the context.
“I ask friends or check online, but I hardly ever consult printed dictionaries,” says Shivaprasad.
Leafing through pages to find a meaning is a cumbersome process for Ananya Doraswami from Christ University, but when she has time to spare she does refer to the good old printed dictionary.
Her friend Ranjini Garani, too, mostly uses online dictionaries. “They are more convenient and deliver examples of word usage,” she says.
Anil Pinto, lecturer, linguistics and literature at Christ University, however, has noticed many of his students carrying pocket dictionaries to class.
Pinto himself owns four dictionaries, but if he’s working on his computer he finds it convenient to check freedictionary.com.
Pinto has an interesting take to offer. “When in class, it isn’t possible for students to look up meanings online,” he says.
So, printed dictionaries, even if sparingly used, are referred to during class at least. “But the day all mobile phones become Internet enabled, it might be the end of the road for abridged versions of the dictionary,” he says.
So digital is the way forward and one can’t deny that.
“It’s convenient, saves time and is a more sustainable practice,” adds Pinto.
