Our Dictionary of Local Usage was established early in the semester as a way to document, record, and preserve the language and culture that is unique to the Cornell community. In my first paper, I stated:

As the dictionary grew in size, I realized that many of the words included were not necessarily unique to Cornell. In fact there were words that are used at colleges across the nation, as well as many regionalisms that I had encountered before coming to Cornell. At first I felt that these words should perhaps not be included in our dictionary, since they were not wholly unique to the Cornell and Ithaca community. However, in reading my first paper, I rediscovered my two original goals for the dictionary: 1) to aid newcomers to the community in their attempts to make sense of our lingo; and 2) to help those already familiar to Cornell in keeping up to date with the language. After some thought, I realized that newcomers to Cornell could very well also be newcomers to college lingo, or newcomers to the region (East Coast, Northeast, New York). In this sense then, those who are new to college or to the East Coast might see certain college terms or regionalisms as being unique to Cornell when in fact they are not. But it doesn't matter whether a word is only used at Cornell, or used on the East Coast, or used in colleges in general; that word is still new to the person who has just arrived on campus, and it would be helpful to provide a definition for the word. Thus, that word's inclusion in the Dictionary of Local Usage would be justified.

With this background in mind, we can now turn to the discussion of the various types of words that are included in the D.L.U. (including the two types mentioned above). There are at least six distinct categories of words that are defined in this dictionary: proper names, acronyms, words specific to Cornell, words specific to the college scene, regionalisms, and existing words with new meanings.

Words that are based on proper names usually refer to place names, buildings, or people. For example, "C-town" and "The Commons" both refer to specific areas within the town of Ithaca. "The Straight" is short for Willard Straight Hall, which is the student union building. "The Big Dick" is slang for Dickson Hall, a dormitory on North Campus. Program names such as "Bear Access" and "ResNet", which both refer to the university-wide computing network, are also included in this category. There are even specific people who have gained enough local fame to have their own entries: "Dave from Okenshield's" and "Chef Wang" are two examples.

As anyone who has visited for a day knows, Cornell is a hotbed of acronyms. Therefore it is not surprising that a large number of the entries in the D.L.U. consist of words such as "ARME", "EARS", "ILR", "CS", and "OC". Acronyms are commonly derived from the names of the seven colleges: Architecture, Art, and Planning; Industrial and Labor Relations; Agriculture and Life Sciences; Arts and Sciences. Other sources for acronyms include clubs and organizations (Chinese Bible Study, Empathy and Referral Service), courses and majors (Computer Science, Agricultural Resource and Managerial Economics), and staff positions (Orientation Counselor, Residential Advisor). Without a dictionary to decode all these terms, newcomers to the campus would be totally lost!

Of course there are also words that are totally unique to Cornell but do not fall under the categories of acronyms or proper names. It is these words that make our campus and our culture different from those of other universities. One favorite word is "Ithacating," a word that refers to the unpleasant weather that is often found here. According to the entry:

This term has come to describe the precipitation that is unique to Ithaca. It is almost certain that every day the weather is doing some thing other than being sunny. It is my belief that this term came about >from a blending of Ithaca's Precipitation. Look out your window and it is probably snowing, raining, drizzling, or just being gloomy.... ith[a]cating.

Nowhere else can you find a word that so broadly describes the general atmosphere of Ithaca. Other words that only Cornell students would use include "Cash op" and "Co op", both of which are meal plan terms. "Cash op" indicates a facility where one orders food à la carte, and each food item has its own cash value attached to it. "Co op", on the other hand, refers to all-you-can-eat dining halls where food items do not have their own cash value.

There are many words used at Cornell that are also used at campuses elsewhere. At many colleges, you can visit a TA during their "office hours" and ask for extra help outside of class. Many universities also offer a "concentration" in addition to a degree; this is similar to a minor, but is probably not nearly as difficult to earn. In addition, every college with a Greek system carries with it the relevant terms: "frat", "rush", "pledge", etc.

There are also many regional words that are in common use at Cornell. Many students from the West Coast or from other countries may find these slang words rather strange. One widely used and versatile term is "random", which is defined as "non-sequitur, not having a logical reason for being and, furthermore, not needing a logical reason for being." The word itself is quite random, as its definition has become nearly as vague as that of "nice." "Sketchy" and "shady" have similar definitions: "causing an uneasy or scared feeling, abnormal in an unpleasing way" and "causing one to be leery, causing queasiness or a generally uneasy feeling." One entry, "phat", even includes the regional usage as part of its definition: "A descriptive, colloquial word commonly used by teenagers and college students on the East Coast to express high approval of something. They use the word interchangeably with 'awesome' or 'cool'."

The last category involves existing words whose meanings have changed and evolved, just as the English language as a whole changes and evolves. It is the Cornell students and faculty who have brought about this change. These words are not unique to Cornell per se, but their 'new' meanings are. Words such as "bonus", "chalking", and "dijon" just don't have the same connotation here as they do elsewhere. For instance, the first word, "bonus", typically means "something given or paid beyond what is usual or expected." (The American Heritage College Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1997) But here at Cornell, it means "to purchase a meal for someone via Cornell's bonus guest option in the 'meal plan' program." "Chalking" isn't just using chalk, it's using chalk to create temporary sidewalk advertisements and announcements for events on campus. "Dijon" may be mustard, but it's also short for "Dijon burger", "a cheeseburger with bacon on Italian bread with a special 'Dijon' sauce only found at the Ivy Room, in Willard Straight."

The language that is found here does not only consist of words that are completely unique to Cornell or Ithaca. It also contains words >from the region, words from college campuses, and pre-existing English words. All these different types of words interweave and combine to form the language that represents the distinctive culture of Cornell University.