When attempting to formulate this Dictionary of Local Usage, many factors affected what words could be used in our dictionary. Each person in the class "We are what we speak", Linguistics 100.2, added 12 words to the dictionary. With each addition, the rules for what would be allowed in our dictionary changed. While an agreement on the rules could never be reached between the class, it was agreed upon the Dictionary of Local Usage was a useful resource.

There was one basic rule that was established at the beginning of the Dictionary, that while debated, remained intact. Every word submitted to the dictionary would be allowed. There are many words in our dictionary that are possibly new to some people and not to others. In our Dictionary, the word "Random" is defined to mean not having a logical explanation. Using this word to describe events is not uncommon in certain areas of the country, but it is quite possible that there are those in the Cornell community that had never heard it used outside of statistics and probability. Therefore, there is no way to decide whether or not a word is specific to the Cornell community or not. It is a diverse community, full of people with different backgrounds, each with his/her own experience as far as the words and terms he/she has encountered.

Many of the words in the Dictionary were spoken before they were written. Technically this is true of all words in the English language, or of any language, but it is especially the case with our Dictionary. The perfect example of a word that was spoken before it was written is the word "ARME". ARME stands for Agricultural Resources and Managerial Economics, a major at Cornell. ARME is merely an acronym for the full name of the major. For some time, while being referred as "ARME" when spoken, it was still written as Agricultural Resources and Managerial Economics. Slowly it became acceptable to write "ARME" as it was spoken.

Another common word type in our Dictionary is the personification of a major. These personifications often involve a little altering of the word itself, but the general gist stays the same. The word "enginerd" is a decent example of this phenomenon, as it implies that the person is a nerdy engineering major. The best example of this phenomenon is the word "hotelie". A hotelie is a student in the School of Hotel Management. The word "hotelie" is also a good example of a word that is very specific to the Cornell Community. There are only 9 hotel schools nationwide, so there are not that many other places that can have "hotelies".

One of the most heavily debated types of entries in the Dictionary of Local Usage was the proper name. There were those who believed that proper names had no place in the Dictionary of Local Usage because there are no proper names in the regular dictionary. While this is valid reasoning, there is a slight oversight. Our Dictionary is one of local usage- words that mean something in this area. While "Mann Library" is simply that, a library named after somebody named Mann who donated money, it is still a word or phrase specific to this area, and therefore should be allowed into our Dictionary of Local Usage.

Another common word type in our Dictionary is the word that, while found everywhere else in the world, has a special meaning at Cornell. A good example of this is the word "Late Night". While every place on earth that sees the sun and the moon has the concept of "Late Night", it is different from Cornellís perception of "Late Night". To a Cornellian, "Late Night" is the after hours dining program offered for those students who miss the opportunity to go to dinner at a normal time. This word type can often lead one who is browsing the Dictionary without actually looking at the definitions to assume that many common words were included in the Dictionary. Further examination would reveal that many words take on new meaning at Cornell.

The final word type in our Dictionary is the word that is formulated solely by our community, based on something only our community can deduce. If one has not spent time in Ithaca, the word "Ithacating" means nothing to them. To the person who has spent time in Ithaca, that word means a lot. If someone doesnít know about Ithaca, they would not be able to deduce that "Ithacating" is a weather term. They would not be able to figure out that it is type of weather in Ithaca where one can not tell what exactly is falling from the sky, but it is evident that something is. Thus, "Ithacating" is the prototypical term for our Dictionary of Local Usage.

It slowly becomes apparent when trying to create a Dictionary of Local Usage that there are very few terms that could be considered only possessed by one singular community. It is difficult to come up with terms, but once one begins to think about all the different nuances words take on when used in the community, it becomes much easier. Hopefully this Dictionary of Local Usage will be an enlightening insight into the Cornell community.