Comments

1
Congratulations! You win a giant green marijuana cock! Enjoy!
2
I don't know when I've been happier than reading this. Wow! If I wore a hat I'd doff it. Way to go.
4
Paul, you're supposed to be a literary critic. Why do you care what is or is not in Webster's? Is that *anyone's* preferred dictionary? Tsk tsk.
5
Well played, Kelly O!
7
@4, Merriam-Webster is the premier dictionary of American English and has been for a century and a half. I cherish my copy of the New International of 1909, my 1934 Second International, and my 1961 Third New International. They are among the supreme works of scholarship in any field.
8
Stay true, Kelly O.! Michgan über alles! ...well, mostes at least. And Yoopers über Michigan, technically speaking, I mean.
9
Thanks yous' guys! I had no idea so many Sloggers were from the Mighty Mitten!

Now who's been to Ishpeming to see the world's largest chainsaw? And who wants to eat a pasty and play a round of Euchre?
10
Thanks, Wikipedia:
Residents of the Lower Peninsula are jokingly referred to as "flat-landers," or "trolls" by residents of the Upper Peninsula, because they live "under the bridge".
So, not "lopers"?
11
I always felt that it should be spelled U-per, or UPer (and actually include the letters of the acronym). But now Kelly O just had to go and make it official. Great. Maybe I can talk Gov. Scott Walker into invading and annexing it for Wisconsin. Then this 'yooper' bullshit can finally die (it will be renamed 'wooper').
12
Youse guys can make fun about our uncommon uniqueness as Yoopers, but we're also diehard Packer fans up der, and in one week from Thursday , Double AAron Rodgers and the Pack are gonna open up a can of Whoop-ass on your sorry Beast Mode.

Plus we have Mosquitos the size of Buicks...

Negaunee represent!!
13
You go, Kelly girl! "Ay"? And you know, because you live below the bridge, you're a "troll"!
14
I am from the Lower Peninsula and this makes me proud. Thanks, Kelly O!

And by the way, I from a city on Lake Michigan in West Michigan.
15
@7, Fnarf, I was just being catty. I usually am, if I'm tsking. I keep a copy of the 1961 W3, but it's quite dusty as I rarely touch it except to cross-reference.

A good dictionary does far more than explain how a word works. A good dictionary puts you in command of language. I honestly don't think I would have become a successful writer if I hadn't discovered the OED, specifically Shorter OED.

Then again, I'm the type of sucker that pays $30 for an offline dictionary app for my phone even though Seattle Public Library grants anyone with a card full, free access to OED Online--and to this day I will spend hours wildcard searching whichever glottal combinations I find stuck in my head, flowing back through the etymological resources spanning centuries--nay, millennia--and growing my relationship with language.

I have never found this connection with the admittedly impressive scholarship in Merriam-Webster. Somehow OED is more clinical, more exact, more warm and more human all at the same time. In my experience writers of prose tend to agree, though my readership and colleagues are primarily based outside of North America. I understand and respect your adoration for it, though, as I respect anyone who still cares enough to have a preference.

American Heritage, though... what are they smoking over there amirite? Amateurs.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.