Nature Words Dropped From Children’s Dictionary
“Humans seldom value what they cannot name.” -Elaine Brooks
To make way for modern tech terms such as BlackBerry, blog, voicemail and broadband, the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary has opted to drop terms pertaining to nature. No longer can a child check this dictionary and learn more about the blackberry, dandelion, acorn, heron, otter, magpie, sycamore, or willow.
Why were these words deemed expendable? A statement from the Oxford University Press clarifies:
the 10,000 words and phrases in the junior dictionary were selected using several criteria, including how often words would be used by young children.
I’m sorry, maybe I’m missing something here…but which word does your child use more? Broadband…. or dandelion?
