Here's the Stephen Fry link mentioned for those interested: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fGt5j8OoiK_Ad7w.html Also, thanks again to Skillshare for sponsoring this video. As mentioned the first 250 people will get a 2 month trial for 99¢ here: skl.sh/2GymbIk Thanks!

@BestOnThursdays

6 жыл бұрын

Today I Found Out Is there really a library that holds every single book that has ever been published

@ChesuMori

6 жыл бұрын

I can't believe you left out one of the most common causes of "that's not a word" claims: word games like Scrabble.

@WizardAngst

6 жыл бұрын

"Irregardless" still isnt a word.

@sharingheart13

6 жыл бұрын

Why is "ain't" unacceptable while "won't" is?

@ChesuMori

6 жыл бұрын

Classism.

Constructive feedback here, I've always noticed that when you do a scrolling page of text you focus on it ending at the same time, rather than on what he's saying. He's often reading a line of text that's not even on screen yet.

@dustout1

6 жыл бұрын

Aaes Astra this drives me crazy!

@starlesssu

6 жыл бұрын

i ended up closing my eyes while the text was scrolling because it was bothering me to much

@1973Hog

5 жыл бұрын

And the background music drives me nuts

@miou-miou-

5 жыл бұрын

well i mean.. i was reading the subtitles as he was speaking... "in the 13th century" (it read) he said "in 2008" sooooo... my gripe is with the CC which seems to follow the original take rather than an edited version of it..

@donmear6654

4 жыл бұрын

My Gawd yes. It drives me nuts

I wish I could remind a couple of people of this video that I play Scrabble with.

@Solusphere

6 жыл бұрын

Scrabble is one of the very few cases where a dictionary can be authoritative, as the official rules of scrabble use dictionaries as the final arbitrator for acceptable words (though WHICH dictionary is left up to the players). That said, it only has as much authority as you and the other players decide to grant it.

@jaspr1999

6 жыл бұрын

Solusphere, - That was kind of the point of the joke. Nuance in text is something I am sorely lacking in.

@wessven

6 жыл бұрын

English Scrabble is boring: too many words.

@georgewang2947

6 жыл бұрын

Trying to play KWYJIBO again?

@AliHassan-mk6lf

5 жыл бұрын

Fig kiss

One of my favorite sayings when I was a child was "Ain't, ain't a word because it ain't in the dictionary". I think at the time it may have been true about it not being in the dictionary. At least in the dictionaries in my elementary school.

Dear Simon, very interesting topic, esp. for me as a linguist. With watching this video, I had an idea for your biographics-channel: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Most people, even in Germany, think they invented the fairy tales, that Disney made into overly sweet movies. No, they collected (as linguists) oral traditions and put them into writing in the desire to preserve and document a big part of German literature. The published versions of the fairy tales are less violent and sometimes blends of various tales with common motifs. They also started the first linguistic dictionary project of the German language, with 32 volumes in its first edition (1848-1963). One of them proposed a radical version of lower-case writing German (much like English or any other language I know), which makes his texts rather inconvenient to read for a German. They had strong believes in a unified Germany, one, I think Jacob, was a member of the 1848 Nationalversammlung. They were also among a group of professors in Göttingen (Göttinger Sieben) who had to leave the state of Hannover because of political reasons. CU twinmama

@catlover10192

6 жыл бұрын

What makes lower-case nouns confusing for a native German speaker? I ask this out of mere curiosity. I'm not sure how decapitating nouns leads to ambiguity. I only have a basic understanding of the German language, though, so forgive my ignorance.

@camelopardalis84

5 жыл бұрын

@@catlover10192 and anyone else interested in an answer (since the question was asked that long ago): When reading German, you just expect a word that doesn't start with an upper case letter to not be a noun, which can already trip you up at least a bit. Also, some words have one meaning when spelled with an upper case first letter and a different meaning when spelled with a lower case first letter. And if this helps some more: I remember reading books in English when understanding the language just well enough to understand most of what was written in most books. And sometimes after finishing a sentence when reading I had to go back because I hadn't registered a noun or in other cases a verb. Because in English there are many words that can be either nouns, adjectives, or verbs, depending on the context.

I am old enough to remember being told don't use the word ain't because that was not a word. They tried hard to stop us but it didn't work.

@mykel723

6 жыл бұрын

TheJer1963 I remember being told not to use it, not because it wasn't a word, but because it's nonsense as a contraction. Also the fact that we already had/have a contraction for "are not".

@xxXthekevXxx

6 жыл бұрын

Mykel Duso but “ain’t” is different because it can be both “aren’t” or “isn’t”.

@StefanTravis

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, the usual routine is: Idiot: "Don't use that word. It doesn't exist." Normal person: "Then how come you understood it?"

@BTheBlindRef

6 жыл бұрын

To which I reply, "I may understand it, but you sound like an idiot saying it, so as long as you're ok with that..." To extend the concept, when people say "I could care less...", I know what they intended to mean. But that doesn't make the phrase correct. They have said precisely the opposite of what they intended to say. Does that mean they are right simply because I was able, from context and habit, to figure out what they really meant? No. That is an objectively incorrect phrase because it literally means the opposite of what you intended to say. So while language does evolve, it isn't true to say "whatever people say is correct regardless of any rules or value judgements" either.

@briandoolittle3422

6 жыл бұрын

bjr1822 Dunt Tell I correcting grammer. Me can function words what way ME WANTS.

Thank you for addressing this; curiosity is invaluable -- it is what drives science and discovery -- and its virtues are to be encouraged by videos on topics like this. ^_^

I've always wanted "thou," "thee," "thy," and "thine" to come back into regular usage in the English language.

@spacemissing

6 жыл бұрын

Well, you go ahead and start it, and we'll see how far you get... (I'm guessing No Where)

@JeremyWS

6 жыл бұрын

I already use these words, myself. And some of my friends have started using them too. And we use them correctly, I may say. So to thee I say; we are gaining some traction. So there!!

@spacemissing

6 жыл бұрын

Go ahead and do it, but I can assure you that you won't affect enough people to make it spread very far. In other words, I wish thee "rotsa ruck".

@JeremyWS

6 жыл бұрын

Nice talking to thee. I'm done. This conversation is over. Goodbye!!

@KurosakiYukigo

6 жыл бұрын

Thee, thy and et cetera are still understood by most people (if albeit in the exact opposite realm of formality as their original use), so I see no reason why the second person informal couldn't gain more traction. Attempting to adopt the conjugation associated therewith would be another matter altogether. I wish thee luck in thine endeavor.

Mjolnir... That's my word for today. What do you know about Mjolnir, Simon?

When the OED added "d'oh", it became legit.

This was a very nice video. One of my favorite from Today I Found Out. Well done.

"All words are made up." -Thor

Thank you for the excellent content. Perhaps one of your best pieces to-date! Well done!

Thanks for the video guys.

Wow... there is so much one could say about this entry, but dedication and long suffering are two of them. To work so long on a project only to have to retire and it not being completed and still the new head of said project may not see it to fruition... wow. Real dedication is great, as is this video with it’s great information. One never knows exactly the work that has been done for words we use everyday to be well just that “ everyday words “. Great stuff Simon et al. Great stuff. 👍👍

A few months ago, you talked about Grammarly and I've been using it ever since. I'm a grammar maniac and it really does help a lot with everything concerning words (grammar, spelling, punctuation...) I really love it and highly recommend it. Thank you, Simon!

Not sure how many people read the closed captioning on this, especially starting around 15:30. It's a hilarious commentary! Awesome video! Many thanks to Simon, Karl, Dave, Alex, and all others involved!

@Effedup

2 жыл бұрын

I just saw that myself and was getting ready to comment lol. Too funny!

My college had a complete OED. It was so much fun to browse when I should have been working. :)

is it me, or is the background music sounding like a mobile ringtone..lol

wow! this is so much more complicated that i would have anticipated had i ever thought about it before now! Facinating!

I have the complete OED Volume 2 in a single volume, published in 1991. It weighs nearly ten kilos and the text is so small you need a magnifying glass to read it. On the plus side, it only cost £30 (bought from a second hand bookshop).

A lot of people need to see this video. That amount of times I actually hear that X isn't a word.

Your videos always embiggen my knowledge.

To misquote an old automaton: "Byte My Shiney Metall Aff!";)

@JimAllen-Persona

5 жыл бұрын

Otokichi786 One of my favorites !!!

Thank you. I appreciated explanations on the use of dictionaries themselves.

removing obsolete or obscure words from dictionaries kinda defeats the purpose of the whole project doesn't it? i mean the main reason for why someone would refer to a dictionary is if they find a word, the meaning of which is unknown to them. imagine you are reading an older book or document which heavily uses obsolete language and you are stuck with a dictionary which does not include obsolete words. in fact i would regard the inclusion of obsolete and obscure words much more important than the inclusion of common place words which most users should already be familiar with.

@NinJestre

6 жыл бұрын

Windhelm Guard Your newer dictionary would still update the definition of the words in question & most of the words in your older book have had changing definitions over time so you'd quite likely end up with incorrect definitions & be confused regardless. Editors looking to translate older materials into modern forms of a language usually try to get dictionaries from around the same time as the writing in question to help get an accurate translation

@StefanTravis

6 жыл бұрын

_"obsolete or obscure"_ != no longer used by anyone _"main reason"_ != only reason _"find a word, the meaning of which is unknown to them"_ - congratulations, you've just argued for including _only_ obescure words. Make up your mind.

@jasonpeng5798

6 жыл бұрын

agreed. i think dictionaries should have obselete words or meanings with the italics tag "obs" or something next to them as to provide valuable resource but also let the reader know that it isn't used anymore.

@hyenaedits3460

6 жыл бұрын

I think I've seen Old English dictionaries somewhere.

@bcubed72

6 жыл бұрын

_" Your newer dictionary would still update the definition of the words in question & most of the words in your older book have had changing definitions over time so you'd quite likely end up with incorrect definitions & be confused regardless."_ "How queer!" I ejaculated.

One of my most prized possessions is a Mirriam Webster Dictionary from 1928. On every page, there is a section of old and obsolete words. I am a writer and this is often referred to as the Family Bible.

Every english teacher (and most others) i had in school needs to watch this!

An example of a word not listed in the dictionary is "riggage", a term commonly used when describing arcade machines that operate on a payout rate.

Excellent video! I wish you'd had time to talk about changes in word meanings, and what criteria the OED uses in determining when that has happened. Shakespeare's plays are famous for words that are still around but have seen dramatic changes in definition, like 'doubt', which in Shakespeare's time could mean simply 'suspect'. Another changed word, this time a very dramatic and sudden change from about a hundred years ago is 'airline'. In the 19th century, 'airline' was synonymous with 'beeline'. It would be interesting to know how and when the dictionary responds to these kinds of changes.

Ha! This puts to rest several running arguments I’ve had going since college! Yes, my friends and I are perniciously tenacious about the frenetic additions to the English language.

Allow me to express my contrafibulations.

The city I grew up in a city that has it's own word (devilstrip). It can be used in a sentence like it was on our street signs in Akron Ohio "no parking on the devilstrip" although if you Google it they have it as 2 words devil strip but on the street signs it is one word and people say as one word. It means the strip of grass between the street and your yard that technically isn't your property but you do have to mow it yourself. Most of the signs started getting stolen when we found out that we were the only ones who said it and the city has given up on replacing them. I can't even think of what someone from another city might call it.

As a new subscriber watching old vids, these don't sound bad per se, but my lord has your sound redording quality inproved.

I've always wondered about dictionaries. That seems so difficult, especially with slang terms changing so quickly and being so regionally specific. For instance, a band called Sublime uses not just common slang, not just Californian slang, but specifically slang used on the streets of Long Beach. I can barely tell what they're saying, no one can, not unless they were in that scene in that place at that time.

I love that this video completely changed how i view the usage of a dictionary, why was i never taught this in school?

12:02; "a book shelf"?? That's a BIG bookcase Simon!

Surely the OED is only a reference for Scrabble??

I remain fond of the slight archaic word enshrined in the Australian National Anthem - Girt. As in "girt by sea". It is a shortened version of "girdled by sea" which in turn means surrounded by sea. It also amuses me whenever discussions about it arise.

Please make an episode about Manatees! They are my favorite animals:)

@qtexasbrumley

6 жыл бұрын

Oh shit

@danielcannon4727

6 жыл бұрын

They're just as dumb as pandas.

@sunnydemingo

6 жыл бұрын

Sea Cows will save our species one day

@loravipperman3061

5 жыл бұрын

😂

I'm a HUGE Simon Whistler fan and I wanted to show this to my Grandma but today I found out that the first minute is an advert and I worry she won't understand. But in the video today I realised it's Friday night and I'm actually too drunk for anyone's Grandma.

I did indeed have a dictionary once that didn't have gullible in it. I wish I still had it, would be a good trinket.

I want a full set of the OED. It would greatly entertain my word nerd side to open to a random page and look at words I don't know.

I took a "History of the English Language" class back in college. My university actually had TWO copies of the OED. When the first one that had been in the main library got too bad, it was moved to the English Department's library and the main library got the new copy. By the time I was going to school in the early 1970s, they were both kind of ragged, though the one in the English Department was definitely the worst.

If “yeet” makes it in there all is lost...

@genepitts4665

4 жыл бұрын

Any slang should be excluded.

whittle[hwit-l, wit-l]verb (used with object), whit·tled,whit·tling.to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife.

Honestly I would freaking love to work at the OED. I used to work at Barnes & Noble, and when my new boss learned that, he said, "Ugh, it's like a library in there!" To which I replied, "I would love to work in a library!"

I don't have easy access to the complete OED. However, I am told that the word "codign" can be found there. Such an interesting and useful word! For those that are curious, codign means to have equal dignity in measure and scope.

The subtitles at the end are hysterical.

The video I wish I had over 20 years ago so I could shut up those "ain't isn't a word" people. Sure, we "won" in the end, but it was annoying trying to prove them wrong back then.

@JLConawayII

5 жыл бұрын

Not really.

1:26 I want that tiny book!

This was a big problem for me in school, somehow i would always get the older teachers who didn't realise some words have been taken out since they were in school

$1,100 is expensive, but then you have every book on your shelf inside it!

That rant was divine.

Hmmm, a dictionary entry usually has at least the word, pronunciation key, type, and a list of various definitions, usually in the order of most used down to least used. I am pretty sure that several words from my childhood have changed definitions at least by priority of usage, e.g. cool, gay, black, etc. Do they regularly update dictionaries to reflect such changes?

@molybdomancer195

5 жыл бұрын

as a former lexicographer, I can confirm that when new edition of a dictionary is created, changes in usage of existing words are taken into account. Even the venerable OED adds new meanings to existing words, but they order the definitions in date order (with older meaning first). Even this order can change if new evidence is found

OML this is a long episode!

I love this. I've been trying to tell people for decades that "proper English" is an empty, meaningless phrase. It's amazing how much flak I've routinely had to put up with. It ain't no way to treat someone who's trying to learn you something. Grammar police bore and annoy in the extreme, especially when you know how they're simply wrong. It's amusing how _adamantly_ they can speak out their asses.

Irregardless, irregardless ain't a word.

There's a phrase that goes something like, "Don't use five words when four will do." and sometimes for fun I go the other direction. For example, the same phrase, "Do not, whenever possible, use an overly extravagant amount of words when much less would most likely suffice." Similarly, using overly elegant words to say re write rock song lyrics is also fun. "If you would please escort me southerly to thine land of utopia, where the vegetation is verdant, and the adolescent women are quite splendid. Oh, would you not please escort me to my residence there? "

@jameson1239

5 жыл бұрын

Skeeball D'Slanted is it bad I instantly recognized the song even with you making it unnecessarily complicated

Where do I sign up to be paid to read and look for new words? That sounds like my dream job.

KZread keeps recommending me old TIFO videos and I'm not even mad.

I mentioned this to you at some point, but maybe a video on Eurovision, since it'd be current, but since it'd take awhile to make it, it may no longer be current by the time it would be finished.

Thats a fantastic question ive never asked myself, but i do now lol.

Make a video on the "Real academia de la lengua española"! In spanish we actually have a body that does say what is actually a word. Could be a curious case for non-spanish speakers

For several years I petitioned the OED to add “Fuckingmonkeybollocks” as a word but they said it wasn’t a commonly used word, which is fuckingmonkeybollocks.

I remember in high school we thought it was funny that the dictionary in the library was called the Shorter OED even though it was two large volumes. Our teacher said “wait till you see the real one.” And it blew my mind when I got to university and did.

How do you make such great videos every day? The content, research, and quality are all top notch. I'm amazed!

JOY! Someone who might understand my personal Scrabble rules!

@mykel723

6 жыл бұрын

Avery Milieu Oh I understand them, I just don't agree with them. 😒

I got into an argument once with a college professor when she stated her classroom was G Rated. I told her language is an evolving medium whether it be oral, written, or photographic. 100 years ago, there were words that were considered "swear" words. These days, they're common use, or forgotten entirely. In another 100 years the words today considered "swear" words will be either common use, or forgotten. This means by point of fact, that your desire for specific words being forbidden to be entirely personal, and NOT professional. Personal views have no place in a professional institution. She got so mad at me, but knew she had nothing to back herself up.

They also change the meanings of a word from time to time as well

If a dictionary would take up an entire shelf, how big would a complete encyclopedia be?

So much for my own inexactitueds.

My mother, an avid crossword puzzle worker, still uses a 1975 Webster Dictionary.

my Dad gave me his collage dictionary...us circa 1957...has an appendix list of all the colleges extant over here.

"50 seconds of logos" *ding*

SkillShare is amazing my dudes

Great video, at 3:57 you pronounce “assertation” but the word written was assertion. 👀👂

What a sesquipedalian! hahahahaha

I'm going to enjoy having my son watch this 😁

Quim-the metal part on the top of a pencil

3:24 that went right over my head. Kind zoned out the moment he said "x" in the quote. Wish TIFO would leave out these kind of quotes. 5:38 is much more easier to understand.

Is there really a library that holds every single book that has ever been published

What time do people go by if they live near or on a Time zone edge?

Why is the spelling of names changes to include letters that are not a part of the original name when shortened, sometimes to extreme levels? Case in point: David: Dave William: Bill, Dick James: Jim, Jimmy Daniel/Danielle: Danny, Dannie Joseph/Josephine: Joe, Jo Jacob: Jake, Jack Why not just cut off the excess letters and keep the remaining spelling, why the additional editing (again, sometimes to the point that the name is pretty much changed completely)?

@xxXthekevXxx

6 жыл бұрын

Broken Eyes they did a video on this topic: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dHxlsKOwp67ak8o.html

@poorangus8584

6 жыл бұрын

Dick is a nickname for Richard.

@KyleKayMusic

6 жыл бұрын

Jack is a nickname for Johnathan.

@brokeneyes6615

6 жыл бұрын

You guys are highlighting my point here.

@sugarfrosted2005

6 жыл бұрын

Danny is a non example.

In current U.K. Politics the term Snollygoster springs to mind when referring to the Westminster Government leadership.

So what does this say about Scrabble and their reliance on dictionaries for disputed words?

@mykel723

6 жыл бұрын

Michael Wade being that it's a board game, aside from being far from an authority on what should or should not be considered a word, it obviously needs some sort of method of keeping people from just throwing down all of their random tiles each turn. Beyond having a dictionary published to go with each game they sell which would add a large cost to the game, most people would already have one anyway. If you have that game for more than a few years or so, then words get added, and some maybe common word might not be in there and someone will be a dick about it when someone uses that now common word. Not to mention that as the game continues to be made over the years they either update their dictionary and their old ones become useless, or when someone plays with another person who has a different edition, they'll run into problems with the fact that there are disparities between the two games. While just saying "use a dictionary" gets around all of that crap.

@TigressGraphics

6 жыл бұрын

I myself was thinking of this while watching, and I think in the case of a game: keeping to entries in the dictionary just adds a level of complexity, and if need be, the players can agree on perhaps a specific dictionary to use for reference, and maybe if further level of reffing is needed, can search elsewhere if agreed (so, house rules if nothing is specifically stated in your current version of the game, of in maybe the case of a themed game, such as Harry Potter, which may allow all wizarding words such as 'horcrux' to be made legal.) Abridged dictionaries would require players to keep to purist words without playful or logical deviation, clearing out compounds and slang terms that have become accepted just for a matter of everyday speech. Note: I used the word "reffing" and spellcheck did not flag me. You know what I meant, but I highly doubt a dictionary would have such a word as it's a common compound of "referee-ing," and thus not a legal word for X points if another player catches me. I'm not the most avid Scrabble player, but I do recall when I first started playing Words With Friends how frustrating it was that people were using words that were that were never allowed by normal scrabble rules, and I myself could not understand what WWF's regulations were as when I would try to play at the cheap-shot level like those I faced, I was constantly slapped in the face as apparently I was not using proper words. =_= (sorry, bit of rant there, but...) keeping to some standard vs an open ended pool to draw from will also help keep things maybe a bit more fare and enjoyable for all players involved. TL-DR: I say word based games need to stick to limitations, while creative works to be enjoyed and immersive need freedom and flexibility that only comes with play-on-words.

@DonBurns

6 жыл бұрын

This is all I could think about throughout the video.

@ginnyjollykidd

6 жыл бұрын

IIRC, Scrabble does say to use a dictionary to settle disputes and let it be the authority. That doesn't specify which dictionary, so you are free to use the tools around you. Like using dice instead of a spinner, modifying a poker deck to play Old Maid, etc.

@ThEjOkErIsWiLd00

6 жыл бұрын

Or hey, you don't *have* to follow that particular rule, you and your opponent(s) can agree to only nonsense words on the board as long as the player can make up a definition to go with it, after all.

Minor point: the OED doesn't move words from concise editions. That would be the publisher of both the OED and the concise dictionaries, Oxford University Press

OED cites usage examples from all the playwrights of Shakespeare's day.

Zyzzen-the line on the fraction Puendok-the name of the degree symbol Brizapp-to spam download apps Xyenf-a safer foam sword Whuorf-the tip of a door stop Dowlef-⤵icon Hijjip-to know a pig Rew-Slang for 'rejected words' Ditostrophy- chaos caused by an animal laepirtou-volume icon Di'mir'piffidao-To type the letter d 1000 consecutive times using a computer Roggen- disruptive behaviour Porder-To tilt a perfect vertical line to the left for any reason These were all words that are struggling to get in the dictionary due to unspecified reasons,help on the way to victory to many,many poor old words that struggle

Still awaiting to the removal of the word "gullible".

@99CentRapper

5 жыл бұрын

Die you!That is my favourite word!The next would be Wasd"to move the mouth without speech"

@ncedwards1234

5 жыл бұрын

Focused Cheddar You fell for it mate.

This screws up playing Scrabble

They had a problem on Countdown in the early 2000's. The new edition of the dictionary they use had rather too many useful words removed from it. It rather a long time ago, but I think one of the words found not to be in the dictionary was 'pavement'. 8points....nope!

Wow. But how do such complicated words get created and are hardly known? Reading a dictionary is so perplexing.

Another thing about words ...censorship happens. Some words depending on cultures, countries, and so on may not show such words and definition seen as offensive or whatever reason not to have such words shown.

The only time when a word not being in the dictionary counts is when playing scrabble. As scrabble says if it’s not in the OED then you can’t score points of it as they also have rules like you can’t have foreign words or words that are names among other things.

Love the green background.

Clubpekendaw-the curve on the head of the toothbrush

I wonder if any of the lingo in Harry Potter books made it to the Dictionary yet since it has a huge fan base and its been out a while. If the monsters or well known quotable spells have made it into the dictionary. They do meet the requirements of age and consistent use (in fan base anyway) and even general people sometimes get the references.

omg this video was unusually HD when i clicked on it xD

@LeoStaley

6 жыл бұрын

Tengku Aliff 60fps

Opps. I just clicked on the ad banner with my chin. I guess ... maybe I should go to bed.