Our dictionary of local usage can be very useful to many people that attend, plan on attending, or work at Cornell. It can help clear up many confusing words and phrases, and lessen the difficulties that arise when over 20,000 people from all around the world try to converse. Although I think the dictionary is a great idea and will be widely used, I think that some of its entries should be omitted.

A computer-based dictionary of local usage will be very helpful to the Cornell society. Students, especially freshmen and transfer students who are new to the area, will use it to understand the meaning of words and phrases that their classmates and professors use, as well as learn new ones. The dictionary will also prove useful to new professors of staff members moving into the area to work at Cornell.

The computer features of the dictionary make it very accessible and easy to use. Users have fast and easy access to the dictionary from anywhere on campus (or in the world for that matter) and can look up a word in a matter of seconds. Also, entries can be added with great ease in a computer-based dictionary, whereas making new entries in a regular dictionary involves the reprinting of a usually large book. Another advantage of the digital features of the dictionary is the possibility of multiple authors. As we have found, it is easy for many people to add their insight and entries into the dictionary. Because the dictionary is accessible to the Cornell community, the language base is much larger than a regular dictionary. As of yet, only people in our class (all freshmen) have contributed to the dictionary. Although we have had no problem quickly filling the "pages" of the dictionary, we are all exposed to roughly the same lifestyle Ò dorm life, and thus the same language. Allowing other students to add entries would make for a dictionary that much better represents the entire Cornell community. For instance, a junior or senior living in C-town or a frat would probably have many different words and phrases to add.

When compiling a local dictionary such as this, the author/s must ask a few questions of himself/themselves. For instance, should words like suicide, which might have certain pertinence at Cornell - but do not really have a special definition, be included? Also, where do you draw the line to stop including names of people and places? I will try to answer these questions.

Another example of a word that may pertain to Cornell life, but really has no special definition here, is the word work. Although the entry has a very interesting etymology, it has the same meaning here as it does anywhere in the country. Even if Cornell students do more work than their Ivy counterparts, the word should not be included in the dictionary. Instead, perhaps, words such as suicide and work should have a separate section that lists their special pretence here at Cornell. One might, however, want to exclude these specific words even from that section, because theyÌre pertinence might scare away potential students.

This dictionary should help paint a picture of Cornell life to anyone reading it. A person that has never been to Ithaca before should be able to read this and get a good idea of how people talk and what life is like here. Entries such as ithacating and tray help to paint this picture and are very pertinent to life at Cornell. Although both entries have to do with bad or cold weather (which, in fact, are dominate features of this area), they are both much more specific to life at Cornell than work or suicide.

When compiling a dictionary such as this, one must draw a line as to how many proper names of people or places he or she should include. If there is no limit placed on the inclusion of these proper names, the list of building names and famous people at Cornell could be endless. Where do we draw the line, so to limit this endless list without limiting the comprehensiveness of the dictionary?

Our dictionary should not become a phonebook. Including peopleÌs proper names, such as Robert Cohen is not a good idea. However, nicknames play a vital role in conversations at Cornell, and should be included. These include many nicknames such as Dave from Okenshields and Chef Wang. Proper names (any name that could be looked up in a phonebook) should not be included in our dictionary, but nicknames such as these should be included.

The problem of proper names also arises with buildings and places around campus. Obviously, every building on campus should not be in the dictionary, but again, nicknames should. For instance, it would be silly to include Dickson in the dictionary, but The Big Dick is a completely valid entry. Also, names like Libe Slope and the Straight should also be included. As a rule of thumb, anything that is not found on a map of Cornell is a good thing to include.

As you can see, this dictionary can be very useful. If students take it seriously and make thoughtful entries it will serve as a great guide and asset to the university. Although I feel some of the words should be omitted, for the most part, the dictionary is really phat.