The lost words

Maria Arpa

Wednesday Whisper

3 February 2021

This week

The lost words

Plus…

Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness

and

The Wednesday Whisper

The separation of children from nature

While reading to my 3 year old granddaughter, I became aware of a manipulation of vocabulary that alarmed me. The Oxford Junior Dictionary (OJD) has removed many words associated with nature and replaced them with words associated with our tech driven existence which correlates to the decline in outdoor play. This happened quietly in 2008 and was noticed by authors who objected in 2015 with no positive response from the OJD.

For example, Acorn, Buttercup and Conker have been removed, making way for Attachment, Block Graph and Chatroom. The worry is that when children grow up in front of a computer screen and we remove the possibility to name the flowers and animals beyond an urban environment, it becomes less ‘available’ because it’s hard to care about what we cannot name.

Worse is the OJD’s defense of their decision – ‘that lots of children have no experience of the countryside’ – seems to me to make the exact case needed to include more words about our natural world.

And, also, what to me seems ridiculous in a digital age – ‘We are limited by how big the dictionary can be’.

Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness

Children need exposure to nature and the countryside. I mourn the decline in the numbers of children that play outdoors in a natural environment. And the proven consequences of friendlessness, obesity and a rise in anti-social behaviour.

The Wednesday Whisper

Are there children in your life? Could you make an effort to expose them to the outdoors and the associated vocabulary?

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8 Comments

Minna Bruce
Posted 3 years ago Reply

It is amusing to me that I read this today having just yesterday received an email from my 35 yr old nephew saying that he had had to look up what an Aconite was, after I had mentioned (in our group ‘extended family email’ that we do each month) that the Aconites were in full bloom, creating a yellow carpet in the wood. He was shocked that he didn’t know what they were. Although he lives in London now, he is a country boy through and through!
Of course in the same way that my nephew went to look up the word and learn what it referred to, young children need to be able to find out about what a tadpole is and what a dandelion or badger is.

I remember being extremely saddened about 6 yrs ago when I first heard that Acorn, Buttercup and Conker had been dropped from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.. but what worries me is that more and more words are being left out each time a new edition is printed.
So what will disappear next? I believe that catkin, clover and Cauliflower have already gone.. I’m sure Parsnips will go soon.. maybe not many people will mind if Prunes go, although I will.
I quote author Robert Macfarlane who said that it seems as if “what exists beyond the city fringe or the edge of the computer screen need not be named,” and “We do not care for what we do not know, and on the whole we do not know what we cannot name.

I guess that we are all lucky enough to know personally how just holding something natural in our hands, can be an uplifting, almost healing experience. That can extend to looking at pictures too.. think of beautiful pictures of Butterflies for example.
How privileged we are to be able to conjure up a specific image when we just see the word.

Isn’t it the dictionary that is meant to extend our knowledge!
Surely we have less need to look up the words that we often hear being used.. therefore all the more reason to include the less used words.
How long until children don’t know what a Kite is? Or what Skipping is?
And I wonder how long until the word pencil is no longer known?
And that brings me to another concern of mine which is that so few children are now taught how to hold a pencil correctly and also how to form their letters correctly.. but that’s another story!
- Maria Arpa
  Posted 3 years ago Reply
  
  Yes, Minna
  You have really expanded on the theme of the blog and I really appreciate your contribution. Your thoughts on pencils and forming letters is important. I predict that handwriting will come to an end. Now, more than ever, the idea of Wilderness schools is urgent.
Nalani Taylor
Posted 3 years ago Reply

Oh no! I feel really sad that they are taking those words out of the dictionary and in fact can’t believe it. I grew up in a large town on the outskirts of London and certainly saw all those things daily. Finding an acorn or a conker was so special because they were like treasures. I remember a junior school trip to our local forest where we brought back and made a scrap book of different leaves and other findings. How can technology compare to that? you can’t stick virtual things in a scrapbook or feel them with your hands. Very sad.
- Maria Arpa
  Posted 3 years ago Reply
  
  Thank you, Nalani for that very poignant reflection.
Louisa
Posted 3 years ago Reply

Strange argument that ‘that lots of children have no experience of the countryside’; I seem to remember seeing the odd Acorn, Buttercup and Conker in the city
- Maria Arpa
  Posted 3 years ago Reply
  
  Great point Louisa. Now children might not be able to name them and therefore understand their intrinsic value.
Noor
Posted 3 years ago Reply

Thanks, Maria, this is really interesting and important. I wouldn’t care about things I can’t name.
- Maria Arpa
  Posted 3 years ago Reply
  
  Thanks Noor, yes I agree, this is why Nonviolent Communication is so important, it helps us name our feelings and needs. I hadn’t thought about the naming of other living things like flora and fauna so this seems really important