Among all college campuses, there are many distinct phrases, words, and titles that are used to identify various objects, places, events, and people. Having just spent our first year at Cornell, we have picked up on much of this type of local lingo. From the first day we walked on campus, people pointed things out to us and told us the story behind it. As we settled in, we learned the nicknames of the dining halls and various buildings. Some freshmen were lucky enough to know an older Cornellian who would let he/she in on some of the other distinguishing people, places, or things at Cornell early on. But as the year passed, each one of us came to know and use all the inside language of Cornell. So as the first year winds down, we have put together the Dictionary of Local Usage to record all the inside information we have acquired during our first year at Cornell. Our Dictionary of Local Usage not only includes people, places, and things, but also encompasses many of the distinguishing aspects of Cornell including special event days, organizations, and slang terms that can all only be found at Cornell.

When looking through the Dictionary one will notice the great variety that exists among the entries. Many of them are words that wouldn't be found in a regular dictionary or in other words, aren't part of Standard English. Other entries are words that could be found in a Standard English dictionary. However, these types of words are used additionally at Cornell in a different context than would be the use found in a dictionary of Standard English. Entries in our Dictionary of Local Usage that we have defined in addition to the definitions of Standard English are Fishbowl, Straight, EARS, Waiters, and Pumpkin. These five words are considered Standard English, but take on a significantly different meaning at Cornell.

Things such as the Fishbowl and the Straight are names of places at Cornell that are usually classified as objects in most people's everyday life. A fishbowl is usually thought of as a large, clear bowl that holds a large amount of water to house a pet fish in. Usually gravel is put at the bottom and maybe a plastic tree for decoration. At Cornell, the Fishbowl has no water or fish, but rather has a large number of hard, uncomfortable desks and chairs and is surrounded by a large glass pane, through which students can look through. This room in Uris Library adopted this name because it seems someone realized that looking through the glass down onto the studying students was similar to looking though a fishbowl to see fish swimming.

The term Straight is an adjective used to refer to something that has no curves or angles, but at Cornell is used as a nickname for a building that every Cornell student must pass through at some point or another. When passing through this building one may notice that there in nothing particularly straight in it. It has all the curves and angles that any other building may have, so one may wonder why this building has taken on this particular adjective as its name. It is because the nickname, the Straight comes from the full name of the building, Willard Straight Hall. This building serves as a main community center at Cornell. It houses two dining halls, Okenshields and the Ivy Room, along with an ice cream shop, Straight Scoop. The sale of tickets for concerts and shows also exists here. There are many large common rooms where events are held and also, there are the offices of the main organizations here at Cornell. The Straight serves many purposes here at Cornell, but as outsider might acknowledge there is nothing particular that would cause this building to be described as straight. We at Cornell have learned the real reason behind the nickname of The Straight.

EARS is the name of an organization in our Dictionary, but a part of the body in a dictionary of Standard English. EARS stands for Empathy and Referral Service. It is student-run organization that offers free counseling to the Cornell community. It bases itself on the fact that the counselors are there to listen but not to give advice. They are trained to help people that come to them for help to see different sides of a situation or to help them find solutions themselves and to offer empathy, but are instructed to not give out advice, offer their opinion, or to give the any solutions to problems. In essence, the counselors are acting as another pair of ears for the person to talk to and to maybe hear something the person is saying that someone else might not of. If the counselor feels the situation is of too serious nature, he/she can refer the person to other counseling, thus acting as a referral service. Of course, a person outside of the Cornell community would associate ears as the two structures on the side of our head that are used to hear, but at Cornell EARS is used for a more significant type of hearing. It is unclear how the name was chosen, as both the nickname and proper name are related to the service this organization renders. It is possible that they chose the name with the idea of the nickname in mind.

Another group at Cornell that has taken on a name with an alternative meaning are the Waiters. Short for Cayuga's Waiters, this is an all-male a cappella singing group at Cornell. At first thought, one might associate a waiter as someone that serves he/she food at a restaurant. However, here at Cornell, we know far better and realize that a Waiter is someone in the most well known singing group around Campus. The preface of Cayuga's can be traced to the surrounding area Cayuga Heights. While the reason for the name waiters is unknown, it is possible that the group started out as singing waiters, and not just a singing group. Whatever the basis, there is no question at Cornell as to who the Waiters are as no-one would dare mistake any one of them as someone serving them in a restaurant.

The story of The Pumpkin, although fairly recent will probably follow Cornell throughout the rest of its existence. Most people start thinking about pumpkins in mid-October. They use these round, orange vegetables as decorations and for cooking on Halloween and Thanksgiving. Many people at Cornell use pumpkins for this same purpose, but since one Fall morning in October 1997, the mention of a pumpkin brings back the memories of The Pumpkin that was mysteriously placed at the top of the McGraw Tower in the center of campus. To this day, it is still a mystery as to how The Pumpkin was placed so high. Various speculations have been made, but no one has taken responsibility for giving Pumpkin such a special meaning at Cornell.

The five words that have been described are all words that are part of Standard English that have specific definitions. However, these words have all been lucky enough to take on additional meanings to the people of the Cornell community and so have been entered in the Dictionary of Local Usage. Usually it is not until students come to Cornell and are here for awhile that they learn all the local lingo that has been established on and around our campus. The transition from high school to Cornell is hard enough, so this Dictionary may serve a means of helping newcomers acquaint themselves with Cornell. It with these newcomers in mind, that we the students of Linguisitics 100.2 have compiled the Dictionary of Local Usage.