A reliable dictionary???

Sam Redden
September 19, 2009
“Word of the Day”
The English language is a forever growing language. Words are added to our vocabulary everyday; most of these words being slang, of course. I was unaware that there was an online dictionary that held all of the modern day slang. The Urban Dictionary is polar opposites of the Oxford English Dictionary printed in 1989. This dictionary has all the term that you would see in a standard research paper. Both of these dictionaries have a “word of the day” posted on their website. By just looking at these two words and analyzing the differences of the meanings, I had a clear interpretation of the two dictionaries.
My interpretation of The Urban Dictionary is that it has the credibility of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia where people can write their own takes on words and events. This dictionary is written by whoever feels like writing a word that day. Dictionaries are typically more trusted when they are written by lexicographers that devote their life to produce definitions that society agrees with. The only time I would use this dictionary is if someone called me a foul name that I did not recognize. For example, the “word of the day” for this dictionary is “pirate bath” which is “The process of washing just the arm pit area and the private area with a wash cloth or handful of water.”
In my opinion, the Oxford English Dictionary is a more trusted dictionary. It is not vulgar, and I would feel completely comfortable buying it for my grandmother as a Christmas gift. It is impossible to go online and edit the definitions. The word of the day for this dictionary is “festivity” which is “Festive quality, condition, or nature; fitness for occasions of rejoicing; mirthfulness, cheerful urbanity; also (of writing, etc.), agreeable elegance.” This definition is descriptive because it assumes that the reader already knows the meaning of “festive.”
If I had to choose between the dictionaries, I would choose the Oxford English Dictionary because the Urban Dictionary just strikes me as a joke. I admit to using some of the words and phrases that make up the Urban Dictionary, however I would not use it in formal writing.