A dictionary is, in most cases, the authority on a language. What the dictionary says, goes. It is the dictionary that is consulted when a word is in question, it is the dictionary that is consulted when the spelling of a word is in question. Because of this fact, the writers of a dictionary must take care to document the language in the most accurate way that they possibly can.

This dictionary is rather unique in that it is not designed specifically to document the language, but rather to capture the uniqueness of the area. This particular dictionary's sole purpose was to capture the small tidbits of the language that are unique specific to this area. In order to achieve this, the dictionary had to build its collection in a way that most other dictionaries do not, and could not.

This dictionary of local usage should be viewed more as a guide to the local idiosyncrasies, than as an authority on the language. Words such as "boot" are words that are regular words that have taken on a new meaning here in the Cornell Community. It is changes such as these that have contributed many words to our dictionary. Words that have a standard meaning that is understood by the English speaking world, that here a Cornell take on a new meaning.

Our dictionary has also gathered words from other sources as well. Words that are names of buildings can be found in this document. Some of these words seem to fit well; words such as the Straight. While this is not the proper name of the building, it is what this particular place is most commonly referred to as, and it stands to reason that this should be included in the dictionary. It is my feeling that this dictionary is to serve as a guide to understanding the local language much as a French/English dictionary does. It enables you to understand a word that ordinarily would not be understood without an explanation. While the Straight is probably understood, it does have its unique characteristics that make it acceptable to place in this dictionary.

Other words that can be found in this dictionary are words whose meanings do not change, however there seems to be something special about their use at Cornell. One good example of this is the word "random". This word does not take on any different meaning here at Cornell that it already had, however the word is used much more frequently here. This is a word that is unique more in its usage than in what it is used for. When something is characterized as random, it means exactly what you would expect it to, however random is the word of choice. The words strange, unexpected, out of place, and unusual will never be used when random will do. It is for this fact that random is appropriately included in our dictionary.

ARME. This is another rather unique case. Here is a word that is really an acronym that sounds like another word. This word in particular is one that desperately needs to be defined. To the untrained ear, when they here the word "arme," they think people in uniforms that will defend our country. This is incorrect. ARME is rather an acronym for agricultural resource management and economics. It is words like these that Cornell has so many of, and without knowing their true meanings, a listener can become hopelessly confused in a matter of moments. These are among the words that most need to be defined in a dictionary of local usage, for it is these words that are most unique to this area, and if you are not from this area will have absolutely no idea what they mean.

This dictionary is one that has been composed by many different authors, each of whom had their own ideas on what this dictionary should include. Although many different sources were consulted to compile this, it is my feeling that as a whole, this dictionary does meet the goal that it set out to fill. While all it can be argued that some words do not fit in this dictionary, there is also an argument that they do belong.

Each word was placed in here because of its unique tie to Cornell in one way or another. These words can be viewed as a description of Cornell, using only Cornell specific language. It is this trait that makes this dictionary what it is.