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Heaven 2023: February Book Group - The Dictionary of Lost Words

SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
edited January 8 in Limbo
The Book Group read of the month is The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams.
I rather enjoyed this and am looking forward to the discussion.

Comments

  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    I read it last month and will join in!
  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    I had hoped to join the discussion but haven't yet been able to get hold of a copy, despite regular trawling of our (many) local charity shops. I might try the library next week.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    The thread will be open for a while, so you can always come back to it if you don't find a copy for a month or two @Nenya. I've not spotted any copies in the bookshop in which I work either.
  • I read it fairly recently so might join in this one if I can find a copy to refresh my memory... (working in a library should help!!)
  • I too read this last month as it's our book group choice for next Monday. I'll join the discussion.
  • Ordered it from my favourite bookpusher. Should be here within the week.
  • TukaiTukai Shipmate
    I re-read it last month, to refresh my memory before setting some questions for discussion, which I will post later in the month - probably around the 17th as February is a short month. Of course, as Sarasa has noted, discussion can continue past the end of the month.
  • MiliMili Shipmate
    My library system has 18 hard copies of the book, but all are out and there are 14 reserves before mine! It is not available as an ebook. So will let you know if I get a copy in time.
  • I read a friend's copy, then was given copies for Christmas and my birthday. I really don't need all this emphasis on 'words'. and I don't want to read the book again despite enjoying the first read.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    Someone obviously thought you’d like it @rhubarb!
  • My copy arrived Wednesday evening. I have enjoyed the first 100 pages.
  • TukaiTukai Shipmate
    As I foreshadowed above, questions come early this month because it's a short month, and at least some readers will soon be looking to start on next month's special.

    The difficulty some people have had in finding a second-hand or library copy of what has been a best-selling book suggests that people who have a copy from earlier (like me and Sarasa) have hung onto it. But as Sarasa has indicated. discussion can of course carry on beyond the end of February, and I'll keep an eye on the thread beyond then too.

    And so to some questions, most of them simplistic or rather superficial. This list does not , of course, preclude discussion of any deeper issues arising that people want to raise.

     This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?).
     As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!).
     How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?
     Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren? (I note that for many occupations in Britain, this was a very common way to enter a trade up to about 1900. And It was good enough for a certain carpenter in 1st century Palestine.)
     What do you think Esme learnt about love from the scrips? From her father? Bill? Gareth?.
     There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!).
     Is Ditte a good “aunt” for Esme as a young girl? as an adult? How and why?
     What is the role of Lizzie in the story?
     What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?
     About half-way through the book (April 1910), Ditte writes to Esme, saying: “Keep considering the words we use and record. Once the question of women’s political suffrage has been dealt with , less obvious inequalities [e.g. between the educated and uneducated classes, women among them], will need to be exposed. Play a position you are good at, and let others play theirs.” Was this good advice then? What about now?
     What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do).
  • I am avoiding the questions for now. My copy arrived on the 15th and I am halfway through it. Should have it completed by the end of the month. Thanks for facilitating this month, Tukai.
  • This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?). It felt historical to me. Having two of the most important events of the time ( The Great War and female suffrage) helped to to provide the necessary atmosphere.
     As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!). (See answer, above.)
     How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention? (At times the characters all seemed as if they were essentially moving against a tableau. They did not seem to be as drawn as fully as they could have been and we only saw certain elements of their characters. That said they were as real as their roles in the novel required.)
     Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren? (I note that for many occupations in Britain, this was a very common way to enter a trade up to about 1900. And It was good enough for a certain carpenter in 1st century Palestine.) ( I think my sons have learned about university life ( my career) and running a museum ( Ms. C’s career) though the osmosis of being around our working places. The youngest C has even ended up doing contract work for his mother’s place of employment.)
     What do you think Esme learnt about love from the scrips? From her father? Bill? Gareth?. ( I think she learned a parent’s unconditional love from her father. Bill introduced her to physical love with no real bond. She learned as her relationship developed with Gareth that the strongest bond to love is a friendship.)
     There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!). ( The most significant for Esme is giving birth, the trip to Shropshire and seeing her book in print.)
     Is Ditte a good “aunt” for Esme as a young girl? as an adult? How and why? ( I suppose it depends on how one defines good. She made an error in judgement when she was involved in sending Esme to boarding school which she repairs later when Esme becomes her “researcher”.
     What is the role of Lizzie in the story? ( She provides Esme with a safe landing. Her perception of herself as a bondmaid helps Esme to realize she has been a bondmaid to her work.)
     What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia? ( It was an attempt to show that the apple did not fall far from the tree. It touches on the nature/nurture debate)
     About half-way through the book (April 1910), Ditte writes to Esme, saying: “Keep considering the words we use and record. Once the question of women’s political suffrage has been dealt with , less obvious inequalities [e.g. between the educated and uneducated classes, women among them], will need to be exposed. Play a position you are good at, and let others play theirs.” Was this good advice then? ( Women’s suffrage movements were very class based. It reflects the reality of the situation What about now? ( You will always have the debate on the left between wholesale change and incrementalism. The former would consider the latter sell outs and the latter consider the former to be unrealistic and a barrier to change.)
     What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do). ( The debate over prescriptive vs descriptive language will continue for as long as there is language)

  • *  This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?).
    Though the action takes place in a past time, I don’t think I’d categorise it as a historical novel. Maybe its too recent for that.

    *  As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!).
    I liked this, as it anchored the story to the real world. I loved the photo of the staff at the end.

    *  How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?
    I’m really bad at remembering characters’ names when I’ve finished a book, and the copy I read has gone back to the library. But for me, the old lady in the covered market, and the adoptive mother felt very real.

    *  Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren? (I note that for many occupations in Britain, this was a very common way to enter a trade up to about 1900. And It was good enough for a certain carpenter in 1st century Palestine.)
    I didn’t play under their feet, but my father was my primary school teacher and my mother was a nurse. I learnt enough about their work to know that I didn’t want to follow them into either career!
    Neither of my daughters have become librarians so I must have done the same thing for them.


    *  What do you think Esme learnt about love from the scrips? From her father? Bill? Gareth?
    That it’s a man’s world.

    *  There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!).
    These turning points are what lifted this story to a different level. Each one surprised me. I think the most significant one was the birth of her daughter. At that time, becoming an unmarried mother was unacceptable in society.

    *  Is Ditte a good “aunt” for Esme as a young girl? as an adult? How and why?
    Yes, Ditte was a good friend and mentor, though she made an error sending Esme to boarding school.

    *  What is the role of Lizzie in the story?
    Lizzie is another real character. A ‘salt of the earth’ woman who Esme could rely on.

    *  What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?
    I love a satisfying ending like this.

    *  About half-way through the book (April 1910), Ditte writes to Esme, saying: “Keep considering the words we use and record. Once the question of women’s political suffrage has been dealt with , less obvious inequalities [e.g. between the educated and uneducated classes, women among them], will need to be exposed. Play a position you are good at, and let others play theirs.” Was this good advice then? What about now?
    I’m unsure if this is good advice. Does it mean know your place? There are and I expect always will be social inequalities. Its good to have our assumptions shaken from time to time and to be made more aware of the life struggles that exist.

    *  What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do).
    Baldly, the function of a dictionary is to explain the meaning of words and give their accepted spelling and pronunciation. I mainly use my Oxford dictionary during scrabble games!
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    edited February 2023
    This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?).
    My grandmother was more or less the same age as Esme, so the history felt very real as she talked a fair bit about her life and my mother told me more too. Yes it was a historical novel, but it wore it's history lightly, even though the First World War was an important part of it.

     As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!).
    I liked the fact that a lot of the things in this book really happened, including the word bondmaid not being in the first dictionary.

     How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?
    In some ways I never really thought I knew Esme, she seemed to be almost outside her own story. Lizzie I liked, it was good to see a working class woman given a realistic life in a story. My grandmother was a cook/general before the First World War and then a waitress afterwards and Lizzie reminded me of her.

     Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren? (I note that for many occupations in Britain, this was a very common way to enter a trade up to about 1900. And It was good enough for a certain carpenter in 1st century Palestine.)
    My dad managed a warehouse for a tobacconist and I earned pocket money on a Saturday packing boxes of fags for him. It taught me how to pack a lot of things in a small box, but I ended up as a Librarian.

     What do you think Esme learnt about love from the scrips? From her father? Bill? Gareth?.
    The important men in Esme's life were all rather nice. I'm sure Bill would have married her if he knew, and I was rather puzzled why she rejected the idea so strongly. I did wonder if she would have fallen into bed quite so easily and so free of guilt in real life.

     There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!).
    Having the baby is a turning point, not just because of how Esme changes afterwards but spending time with Ditte and her sister gives her a different insight into how to be a woman in a man's world. My grandmother also had a baby out of wedlock, but unusually for the time she managed to keep her. I think she was fostered by a family until my grandmother was able to have her home sometime after she married my grandfather.
     Is Ditte a good “aunt” for Esme as a young girl? as an adult? How and why?
    Ditte is very good in her support of Esme for most of her life. The boarding school fiasco seems a little out of keeping, but I guess Williams felt it was needed in the story to explain Esme not having a great academic career.
     What is the role of Lizzie in the story?
    Lizzie and Mabel are important at making sure the voice of working women are heard in Esme's book. Women like Tilda and Ditte didn't really 'hear' their voices. Do go back to my grandmother. She was from the East End of London and had the sort of accent you hear in old musical songs. It's not a way of speaking that has survived.
     What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?
    It was a satisfying ending, though I was rather sad Esme never got to meet her daughter as an adult.
     About half-way through the book (April 1910), Ditte writes to Esme, saying: “Keep considering the words we use and record. Once the question of women’s political suffrage has been dealt with , less obvious inequalities [e.g. between the educated and uneducated classes, women among them], will need to be exposed. Play a position you are good at, and let others play theirs.” Was this good advice then? What about now?
    I'm not sure what Ditte was getting at. Did she think that Esme should only worry about words and how they are used rather than looking at social inequalities etc.
     What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do).
    I mainly use an Italian dictionary at the moment! I think an important point was made in this story about how whole categories of word usage can not be recorded, and that use of slang or dialect can be seen as being less important than the standard form of a language.

    One thing about the book I'd like to talk about is it's very linear nature. The story just unfolded and it seemed more like a recording of a life rather than anything with a plot as such. I enjoyed it, but I wanted thee to be a bit of something else in it. I was puzzled by the way when episodes were done they were done, and Bill for instance didn't come back into Esme's life to cause problems or make her consider her decisions.
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?).

    I honestly can't imagine how anyone could NOT see it as a historical novel. It's a work of fiction set in the past. Some historical novels blend in real life people and events with the fictional characters (as this one does); others don't, but any work of fiction set before the author's own lifetime is a historical novel, if you ask me.
    As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!).

    I always enjoy when a writer takes us into real historical events through the perspective either of a fictional character, or a historical character reimagined through fiction. I'd read a previous non-fiction book about the creation of the OED (The Meaning of Everything, by Simon Winchester) and I enjoyed having the characters and events brought more to life through the fictional lens.
    How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?

    Lizzie and Ditte were the most memorable and "alive" characters to me. I did sometimes feel, as @Sarasa said above, that Esme herself was a bit of blank at the centre of her own story. I wasn't as emotionally engaged as I often am in this type of story and I felt that, for whatever reason, Esme just never quite came alive for me as a character.

    Not from the list above, but I really, really liked Gareth as a character and felt that he was given short shrift a bit in the novel, having waited so long and patiently for Esme and then dying so soon after (realistic, of course, since it was wartime, but I still felt it was unfair narrative to both Esme and Gareth).
    Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren?

    No, although I learned to type on my mom's IBM Selectric (she was a secretary for a medical practice and an amazingly fast typist) and frequently dropped into the printshop where my dad worked, both of which probably have had some influence on me as a writer. When I was 14 I worked in the printshop bindery for a summer, which was more than enough to convince me that I never wanted to work in a bindery or any other factory-type environment. Being around words might have been fun for Esme but when those words are on sheets of newsprint being hand-collated before being bound by huge noisy machines, it's not so romantic. Still, I did enjoy (and could, in memory, smell) the scenes of this novel that were set in the printshop.
    What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?

    I liked this ending a lot. I was sorry that Esme's later life was just encapsulated in a very hurried way, and that she never got any real closure with the baby she had given away, but it was nice to see that family love of words coming full-circle in Megan.
    What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do).

    I don't know if I've thought much about this, but I do really enjoy the thing where the major dictionaries identify their "word of the year" -- often quite a passing "fad" word that will be forgotten in a few years, but that captures the zeitgeist of the moment quite well. Some of 2022's words of the year were "gaslighting" (Merriam-Webster), "goblin mode" (OED), and "permacrisis" (Collins).

    I also enjoy the MW online "Time Traveller" feature which allows you to look at what year a word first appeared in the dictionary, and allows you to look up what words were first introduced in the year you were born, for example. My birth year gave us "empty-nest syndrome" and "midlife crisis," among others. Features like Word of the Year and Time Traveller do make me think about how dictionaries reflect our times and their concerns, which is also a big part of what this book is concerned with.

  • MiliMili Shipmate
    I finally was able to pick my on hold copy of the book up from the library on Friday. I am about to go on holidays so avoided other past times and read it all over the weekend and on my commute and work breaks today.

     This is a ‘historical novel’ , though you may not think of it as one of these. (Did you?).
    I agree it was a historical novel as it was based on historical events and real people who compiled the Oxford English Dictionary.

     As such, It mixes real life events (e.g. WW1, the compilation of the OED, the suffragette movement) and real people (notably Dr Murray) with their assistants, family, servants etc, who are fictional (though of course such people did exist). Did you find this annoying or a useful way to add verisimilitude? (I had to check that word in my dictionary!).
    Usually I don't like fictionalised history based on real people, but I liked this book because Pip Williams was careful not to dramatically change the lives of the real people or imagine their thoughts and opinions. I liked that she chose fictional people to be the main characters.

     How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?
    I found the characters to be kind people. Tilda could be a bit abrasive and Mabel a bit crude to people she didn't like, but all of them treated others kindly for the most part. Even when their own lives are difficult they look out for others.

     Did you play under the feet of your mother or father when they were working? If so, did you learn anything from the experience, as Esme certainly did. What about your own children or grandchildren? (I note that for many occupations in Britain, this was a very common way to enter a trade up to about 1900. And It was good enough for a certain carpenter in 1st century Palestine.)
    My parents worked out of the home. Dad in the disability field, eventually becoming an advocate and mum as an integration aide (classroom support for children with additional needs) and school library assistant. However I did learn to bake and hand sew from my mother, plus the boring but necessary domestic tasks and she also volunteered at my primary school before she did paid work in schools. We also interacted with dad's friends and colleagues with disabilities which taught me to be understanding of people who might look or communicate differently and realise they were no more different than anyone else is from each other. I ended up working in teaching and disability care, plus tutoring children so I guess my parents' professions had an influence on me. My mum was also a nurse before she had children and I loved looking at the (sometimes gruesome) photos in her medical books and learnt some biology and science from them when I could read them.


     There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!).
    Having her baby and giving her up for adoption was one of the most significant events that shaped the rest of her life.

     Is Ditte a good “aunt” for Esme as a young girl? as an adult? How and why?
    I think Ditte was always a good "aunt" for Esme, but had poor judgement in sending her to boarding school, rather than somewhere closer to home. I was surprised she did not realise Esme's letters from school were censored. Her biggest mistake was not listening to Esme when she wanted to leave school, however lots of children do not like school, particularly boarding school, for many reasons even if the school is a good one. I'm glad that she and Esme were able to mend their relationship and I think she understood Esme much better as an adult.

     What is the role of Lizzie in the story?
    Lizzie shows the working class point of view including in regards to women's rights. No women had the vote, but wealthier women had a lot more opportunity and choice than those without money or connections. Winning the vote did not end class or race disparities, even if it improved things.

     What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?
    I liked that things came full circle. Her adopted parents were also involved in the dictionary or academics so it was not a surprise Megan chose the professional path she did.

     What do you think should be the function of a dictionary? To record English as it is (or has been) or as it ought to be? Are there whole categories of words whose presence or absence you value in a dictionary ? (assuming you use one, as I do).
    [/quote]

    With the internet we can have many types of dictionaries. No one dictionary can cover all of the English language: too much language is colloquial or technical and meanings change between generations. Many of the children I teach today struggle to use a paper dictionary as they are used to just 'googling' word definitions. I feel like they have lost an important skill, but rarely use paper dictionaries myself these days either. I use online dictionaries and thesauruses for spelling, definitions of words - especially technical words or archaic words in old books and for crosswords. There is rarely the frustration of a word not being in the dictionary as when we relied on paper dictionaries.

    I remember asking my teacher why certain words were not in the dictionary and finding out some words were 'slang' words. At the time I just accepted this explanation without much thought. Now I understand more about why words were left out of the dictionary if they were not used by a certain class in a certain place. This book helped me understand more about how this happened - that the dictionary was based on written language and excluded a lot of spoken language as 'slang'.

    Extra Note
    Coincidentally I was reading up on Independent Ministers after we read 'Cousin Phillis' and went down a rabbit hole that led to me learning more about Peter Mark Roget who compiled the thesaurus. He suffered from depression and it is theorised he began making lists of words as a way to alleviate it at age eight. Eventually his obsession with list making and categorising words led to him creating the thesaurus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mark_Roget
  • TukaiTukai Shipmate
    As I hinted above, since February is a short month, we should feel free to let the discussion run on beyond the end of the month. So here are a few thoughts from me.

    Firstly a response to Sarasa's comment about the linear nature of the story. She's right, episodes in the book move smoothly on without much throw-back to past events. I didn't pick this up, because that has been the pattern of my own life, except for a few people who have always, or nearly always, been there for me, notably my wife of nearly 50 years. Until my undergraduate years, I had never lived for 2 full consecutive years in one place, as my father's job continually moved him around. And it was more than 10 years after we were married, before I had a job that didn't have a 3-year limit on it.

    And now to answer a few of my own questions.

    How real did the following characters seem to you: Esme, Lizzie, Da, Ditte, Tilda, Mabel? Any others you’d like to mention?
    Esme herself was perhaps more of a narrator to whom things happened, though she seemed nice enough. I was impressed by the character of her father ("Da") who clearly did his part to ensure she had a loving upbringing, despite having lost her mother early. And neither of them (or his boss, a sympathetically portrayed Dr Murray) minded that this involved her as a youngster coming to his workplace. The kindness of the "aunt" Ditte shone through , apart from the unfortunate but well-meant choice of boarding school. She seemed very real to me, as I had a couple of aunts who were a bit like that, though not so learned. Tilda and Mabel both struck me as a bit of caricatures, but (as pointed out by others) Gareth was very real , though understandably a bit overawed by the relatively posh family. The hard-working Lizzie was certainly real for the period, and her fondness for Esme shone through.

    There are several turning points in the story? Which do think are the most significant ? (i.e. for Esme and her story, not for British society as a whole!).
    I agree with others that Esme's being taken into Ditte's household to have the baby is probably the most significant turning point in the story. Not only does it give a portrayal of a female intelligensia, but allows (indeed encourages) Esme to join this class. It is also a fine example of kindness (or Christian charity, if you prefer) in action. The death of Gareth was another turning point of note, and of course Esme's exile to boarding school (which was a harsher place than the all-boys boarding school where I spent about 18 months at a similar age).

    What did you think of the ending of the book, with Megan as an elder of lexicography in Australia?
    The ending seemed a bit abrupt to me, though it was a nice closing of the circle. As both the author and this reader live in Australia, I suppose it was nice that these parts (so distant from Oxford) got into the story at all!

    Dictionaries
    In general, Mili is right about why some words have been excluded from many dictionaries as "too colloquial". However, this book portrays Dr Murray (accurately I think) as ruling to include in the OED a good many words that were rare (to say the least) in polite written English in his time. More recent dictionaries, especially those produced in Australia, include a lot of words not common in polite society - flagged as such, but still there to the amusement of secondary students, and the benefit of recent migrants.

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