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To think that the Cambridge Dictionary doesn’t know what a woman is?

274 replies

HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 14/12/2022 07:46

Cambridge Dictionary changes definition of woman

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d0d69d58-7b0c-11ed-bcd8-855e06175970?shareToken=145378cb575d0ff12d97278f7355f1c8

This has fucked me right off this morning.

OP posts:
ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:04

panko · 14/12/2022 12:03

Just clarify which definition of cat you are using?

What definition can there be if it includes dogs?

ShellsOnTheBeach · 14/12/2022 12:06

TheSandgroper · 14/12/2022 09:21

I wonder what their definition of “pandering is now?
I wonder what their definition of “science” is these days?

And Merriam-Webster in the US has gone the same way, too.

Anyone has an email for complaints?

panko · 14/12/2022 12:08

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:04

What definition can there be if it includes dogs?

But in this dictionary example definition 1 would just be cats and 2 would be cats including any dogs who feel like a cat.

ShellsOnTheBeach · 14/12/2022 12:08

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:02

I want to set up a cat shelter. Some traumatised cats can't cope with dogs in their vicinity, so I want to set up a shelter for them. There are some shelters that cater for both cats and dogs and that's great, but mine is for the cats who couldn't use those places and need a cat only service. I can identify and define the cats because they are feline quadrupeds. But now I am told a canine quadruped can also be a cat if it feels like it is. So a cat isn't a feline quadruped, because a canine quadruped can also be a cat. I have no meaningful definition now, so I can't have a cat shelter because dogs can be cats. And it's based on a feeling that itself has no definition. Maybe the dog likes playing with wool or pushing things off shelves. Does that make it a cat? My cat likes playing fetch and humping my leg. Does that make her a dog?How can I set up my cat shelter when a dog can be a cat? What's a cat?

🤣

CloudPop · 14/12/2022 12:10

jellybe · 14/12/2022 11:59

Have they also updated what man means?

Interesting point

Proudofitbabe · 14/12/2022 12:10

🙄 Outrageous update which renders the word totally pointless.

Woman = adult human female / some Men

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:10

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 11:53

So you didn't read it, but you knew what it said, and you also did read it.

No wonder you have no trouble swallowing total absurdity.

Are you not familiar with the concept of skim reading?

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:11

babyjellyfish · 14/12/2022 11:52

To be polite. Not because they actually believe it.

That doesn't change the reality of what a woman actually is.

Regardless of the reason. They use the word in that way.

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:11

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:10

Are you not familiar with the concept of skim reading?

I don't know. Can you define it?

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:17

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:11

I don't know. Can you define it?

I ran my eyes over every paragraph and determined that they were points that were irrelevant to the dictionary thing so I didn't bother reading them.

Oldwomanatchristmastimes · 14/12/2022 12:19

So they've gone all Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland. What marvellous irony for a dictionary. They've always been a crock of shit anyway but this move needs to be the one that gets all women taking action. We lose our word, we lose our rights.

SamphiretheTervosaurReturneth · 14/12/2022 12:20

😂

That's us all told. Don't go dragging your other feminist stuff into this. It's about dictionaries. ONLY dictionaries! DICtionaries not dicks!

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:23

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:17

I ran my eyes over every paragraph and determined that they were points that were irrelevant to the dictionary thing so I didn't bother reading them.

That's not a definition. It's just you being lazy twice over: once by not reading the post and again by declaring it irrelevant with no reasoning.

Is that the new definition of "skim reading"?

Maldedos · 14/12/2022 12:26

GrazingSheep · 14/12/2022 08:11

They have done the same with ‘man’.

The Cambridge Dictionary also updated its definition of man. As well as definitions including “an adult male human being”, it now includes the definition: “An adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth”.

But you can't change sex so your sex will not be different from the birth assigned sex and anyone writing a dictionary ought to know that.

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:27

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:23

That's not a definition. It's just you being lazy twice over: once by not reading the post and again by declaring it irrelevant with no reasoning.

Is that the new definition of "skim reading"?

skim verb (CONSIDER QUICKLY)
[ I or T ]
to read or consider something quickly in order to understand the main points, without studying it in detail:
I've only skimmed (through/over) his letter; I haven't read it carefully yet.
We've only skimmed the surface of (= considered a small part of) the problem.

TheSandgroper · 14/12/2022 12:29

m.youtube.com/watch?v=wfkvonJDBTo

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:29

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:27

skim verb (CONSIDER QUICKLY)
[ I or T ]
to read or consider something quickly in order to understand the main points, without studying it in detail:
I've only skimmed (through/over) his letter; I haven't read it carefully yet.
We've only skimmed the surface of (= considered a small part of) the problem.

But I want to use the term "skim" to mean "read and absorb at length and in detail".

Why does it matter if that's the exact opposite of the definition you want?

UrsulaPandress · 14/12/2022 12:31

Will this madness never end.

babyjellyfish · 14/12/2022 12:34

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:11

Regardless of the reason. They use the word in that way.

If I start using the word "black" to mean "white", will the Cambridge Dictionary redefine these words to validate my preferred usage?

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:34

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:29

But I want to use the term "skim" to mean "read and absorb at length and in detail".

Why does it matter if that's the exact opposite of the definition you want?

People don't use the word that way. If you want to do so, once, today, to make a weird point, the dictionary won't be made aware of this. Unless you email them and let them know. You can do that if you want.

Proudofitbabe · 14/12/2022 12:35

@babyjellyfish exactly. Rachel Dolezal anyone?

wincarwoo · 14/12/2022 12:35

@minimarshmallowsmore who are these people who don't understand skim read?

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:38

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:34

People don't use the word that way. If you want to do so, once, today, to make a weird point, the dictionary won't be made aware of this. Unless you email them and let them know. You can do that if you want.

People don't use the word that way.

They do now. And you just used it to cover both reading and not reading a post and dismissing it out of hand. Does it mean that?

Why can the current opposite of skim reading not be included in the current definition? What's the problem with two absolutely contradictory definitions of the same word?

minimarshmallowsmore · 14/12/2022 12:40

ReneBumsWombats · 14/12/2022 12:38

People don't use the word that way.

They do now. And you just used it to cover both reading and not reading a post and dismissing it out of hand. Does it mean that?

Why can the current opposite of skim reading not be included in the current definition? What's the problem with two absolutely contradictory definitions of the same word?

They don't use the word that way. You did, just now, to make a point. Skim read is not in general usage to mean the same as close read. If people, for some reason, started using the term skim read to refer to close reading then the dictionary could go ahead and add that as one possible definition.

TheKeatingFive · 14/12/2022 12:43

They don't use the word that way. You did, just now, to make a point. Skim read is not in general usage to mean the same as close read.

It all starts somewhere. Why is Rene's point not valid but the first person to use woman to mean 'what I feel in my head' is?