NJ Week 3: Dictionary Loss

Dictionary Loss

1. ROMESH:The export ban on a 500-year old dictionary has expired, meaning we could lose an important part of the history of English. But what exactly does that mean? Lexy Coggrafa from the Oxford English Dictionary is here to explain. Hi Lexy.

2. LEXY:Happy wishes, Romesh.

3. ROMESH:That's a bit wordy isn't it? Hello would have done.

4. LEXY:A singular example of everyday english once Caholican Anglicum leaves UK, and we cease saying 'hello'.

5. ROMESH:Just because the dictionary is going doesn't mean we have to change how we speak.

6. LEXYoes so - modern speakyspeak mus change or we'll be in breach of copylaw. When book goes, we lose all claim on any words in Caholican.

7. ROMESH:You keep calling it the Caholican - I thought it was the Catholican Anglicum?

8. LEXY:Was. When gone we lose all E's as well.

9. ROMESH:We can't lose a vowel, it'd make countdown too hard. Besides, E's the most common letter in English.

10. LEXY:No - we keep E's, we lose E's. No le'er E, beween S and U.

11. ROMESHon't you mean T?

12. LEXY:Correc - E.

13. ROMESHurely that's wrong. T isn't a word in itself.

14. LEXY:Is where Caholican was made.

15. ROMESH:Where's that?

16. LEXY:Yorkshire. We also have to change the UK anthem.

17. ROMESH:Because of the 'the'? Can't we just call it 'God Save Queen'?

18. LEXY:No.

19. ROMESHuppose you're right - Brian May already crops up everywhere.

20. LEXY:We'll no more have 'God' 'Save' and 'Queen'. All words in Caholican. Would become "Supreme Being Rescue Female Monarch".

21. ROMESH:This all sounds pretty bad - like trying to sing the new national anthem to the existing music. Is there any upside?

22. LEXYolice believe deaths from MDMA dealing will end.

23. ROMESH:How can this affect ecstasy fatalities?

24. LEXY:Well if you're in a club and someone offers you an E, you'll probably jus' end up having a nice cup of Earl Grey.

25. END