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technical: normally used only in technical and specialist language, though not
necessarily restricted to any specific subject field.
rare: not in normal use.
humorous: used with the intention of sounding funny or playful.
dialect: not used in the standard language, but still widely used in certain
local regions of the English-speaking world. A distinction is made
between traditional dialect, which is generally to do with rural society
and agricultural practices which have mostly died out, and
contemporary dialect, where speakers may not even be aware that
the term is in fact a regionalism. The
Oxford Dictionary of English
aims to include the main contemporary dialect terms, but does not
set out to record traditional dialect.
offensive: language that is likely to cause offence, particularly racial offence,
whether the speaker intends it or not.
derogatory: language intended to convey a low opinion or cause personal
offence.
euphemistic: mild or indirect language used to avoid making direct reference to
something unpleasant or taboo.
vulgar slang: informal language that may cause offence, often because it refers to
the bodily functions of sexual activity or excretion, which are still
widely regarded as taboo.
World English
English is spoken as a first language by more than 300 million people throughout
the world, and used as a second language by many millions more. It is the
language of international communication in trade, diplomacy, sport, science,
technology, and countless other fields.
The main regional standards are British, US and Canadian, Australian and New
Zealand, South African, Indian, West Indian, and SE Asian. Within each of these
regional varieties, a number of highly differentiated local dialects may be found. For
example, within British English, Scottish and Irish English have a long history and a
number of distinctive features, which have in turn influenced particular North
American and other varieties.
The scope of a dictionary such as the
Oxford Dictionary of English
, given the
breadth of material it aims to cover, must be limited in the main to the vocabulary of
the standard language throughout the world rather than local dialectal variation.
Nevertheless, the
Oxford Dictionary of English
includes thousands of regionalisms
encountered in standard contexts in the different English-speaking areas of the
world. For examples, see bakkie, larrikin, ale, history-sheeter, sufferation.
The underlying approach has been to get away from the traditional, parochial
notion that ‘correct’ English is spoken only in England and more particularly only in
Oxford or London. A network of consultants in all parts of the English-speaking
world has assisted in this by giving information and answering queries–by e-mail,
on a regular, often daily basis–on all aspects of the language in a particular region.
Often, the aim has been to find out whether a particular word, sense, or expression,
well known and standard in British English, is used anywhere else. The picture that
emerges is one of complex interactions among an overlapping set of regional
standards.
The vast majority of words and senses in the
Oxford Dictionary of English
are
common to all the major regional standard varieties of English, but where important
local differences exist, the
Oxford Dictionary of English
records them. There are
more than 14,000 geographical labels on words and senses in this dictionary, but
this contrasts with more than ten times that number which are not labelled at all.
The complexity of the overall picture has necessarily been simplified, principally for
reasons of space and clarity of presentation. For example, a label such as ‘chiefly
Brit.’ implies but does not state that a term is not standard in American English,
though it may nevertheless be found in some local varieties in the US. In addition,
the label ‘US’ implies that the use is typically US (and probably originated in the
US) and is not standard in British English, but it might be found in other varieties
such as Australian or South African English. The label ‘Brit.’, on the other hand,
implies that the use is found typically in standard British English but is not found in
standard American English, though it may be found elsewhere.