(that's a link to the comment that starts the relevance. mostly a back and forth between Language Hat and others about the change in meaning of 'troll'. But the first comment was funny.
@Mitch Strictly speaking it's an abridgment, but it is a larger dictionary than most unabridged dictionaries. It contains 600,000 words, which is almost double what other dictionaries like Random House advertise and covers the language from the year 1700 to present.
Well, entries rather than words, but 'tis the same point. Regardless, what makes the full O.E.D. so compelling is how it subdivides words into a greater number of senses and the number of quotations under each word, esp. with quotations from the earliest known record of use.
@JasonBourne How does the S.O.E.D. handle quotations?
@Tonepoet There are 85,000 quotations. They are given for some sense and not others, since there are 600,000 senses, and I don't know how they are chosen in the abridgment process. But many of the quotations are from Shakespeare, Dickens, Milton, Spencer, and other famous authors, though not all or even the majority.
@Tonepoet I would say that after the full OED, the three largest dictionaries by sense count are SOED, Collins English Dictionary and Chambers Dictionary. The last two have 700,000 senses. Of course, different dictionaries count senses very differently, so this number cannot be taken too seriously.
@JasonBourne Hmm. Merriam-Webster advertised 200,000 for their New International Dictionary, but I am not sure if all of those are actual quotations or if some of them are fabricated examples. Regardless, if we assume half are actually quoted, then we can assume they're roughtly equivalent and hence S.O.E.D. does not treat quotations anywhere near as extensively as the full O.E.D.
That's unsurprising though.
@JasonBourne Also, I'm not sure about the exact sense count, but I'm relatively sure the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia has to be up there:
what is meant by a quantity is generic ? google gives characteristic of or relating to a class or group of things; not specific. 2. relating to a genus. so what generic means?
"He showed that if a Dynamical system is and the observed quantity are generic then the delay coordinate map from d dimensional smooth manifold to 2d+1 smoth manifold is a Diffeomorphism"
@BAYMAX hm... it sounds like 'generic' might have a technical definition in that paper. But also there is a grammar problem ('quantity are' is bad). So it's hard to tell if the author really knew what they were trying to say. It could be generic was intended to mean 'fitting the usual features of a dynamical system' but that's a strange thing to say in a mathematical situation. The whole point is to specify exactly what mathematical features are necessary.
Contrary to @tchrist, it's a tropical morning here, woke up sweating, with loud birds filling the canopy with their screaming, the constant drone of insect clouds, the humidity like a wet wool blanket .
oh. the droning is just lawn mowers. OK, so maybe it is not so bad.
@Mitch Speaking of meth, people say some position holders or toppers take cocaine and other substances because it enhances memory and performance and concentration. I, on the other hand believe that meditation and other relaxation techniques could have the same result. But it is difficult and takes practice and discipline.
I'm not perfect either, I have trouble concentrating for more than 20 minutes so I'm always looking for good techniques to excel in exams etc.
@Tonepoet Is that a photo from Google or your own set?
Some times substantive, sometimes not. And the speaker may well believe these things or not, but the point for them is to encourage interaction (mostly of an incendiary nature).
@Mitch That's a good definition, and if I may add, it doesn't necessarily mean that a troll can only be a newbie or someone with no internet points. Even well rep users can be trolls I believe. Some are just great at pushing others' buttons. So that's a troll to me. I guess we all have our own definition of "troll" from experience and time spent on the internet.
@Mitch A few years ago I was a hardcore atheist. I still am an atheist, but I'm reading different things and some things are starting to make sense. Maybe I'm not an "atheist", I will search what's the correct word for a person like me. I'm forgetting the word.
@Tonepoet I see. Cool.
@Mitch Never mind, I was just rambling. :)
@Mitch I meant people who are always at the "top of the class" at colleges.
@englishstudent Troll, n: A silly attempt to liken people to monsters for light and transient offenses that would be better phrased under the word zealot, bully, bigot or similar.
@Tonepoet That's a good definition. But not necessarily " for light and transient offenses". I mean what do you call a person who has trolled another to the point where their prey/victim has committed suicide? There are such instances on the internet.
@englishstudent Regarding the lightness and transience is difficult for me to empathize with somebody who would commit suicide for a situation that is easily escaped by other means such as blocking, moderator assistance, or even just abandoning the online environment of abuse. It seems to me as if these reports are usually accompanied by other contributing factors too, esp. school problems, so it seems to be more-so a case of the straw that broke the camel's back than any major offense.
Also, please do note that when I say empathize, I limit that to the extent where it is distinct from sympathize.
@Tonepoet Yeah I see your point. I mean, yeah, real life is always a contributing factor in someone ODing or cutting their wrists or standing up on a chair, kicking it and hanging themselves, or shooting themselves. But note that, “suicide” is automatically looked down upon by the society due to its “cowardice” nature so there is that too. I’m referring to your “empathize” comment.
@Tonepoet Btw that’s a very nice idiom you used: “straw that broke the camel's back”. First time I have heard. Or maybe after a long time.
@englishstudent Hmm, it's quite popular and biblical in origin, so I'm somewhat surprised. A related idiom is last straw as in "I'm on my last straw" which is used to signify an inability to tolerate anything more than what already has been.
Though usually it signifies a propensity towards anger than any other sort of intolerance.
English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…
English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…