Rhodri Marsden's interesting objects: Page 771 of Webster's New International Dictionary
The word 'dord' had sneakily crept into the English language. But how?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.* Today in 1939, an employee of G&C Merriam Company was scanning the 2nd edition of Webster's New International Dictionary – known internally as W2 – when he or she stumbled across a word on page 771 that didn't look quite right. 'Dord' sat in between 'Dorcopsis' (a genus of small kangaroos of Papua) and 'doré' (gold in colour), and was defined as 'density'. But the word had no etymology. A memo was quickly drafted and marked 'urgent'. The word 'dord', it seemed, had sneakily crept into the English language. But how?
* Internal investigations revealed how the "most notable error in the history of lexicography" had come about. (If you're sitting there thinking "Jeez, it's only a word," you're forgetting how fastidious lexicographers are.) Back in 1931, Dr Austin Patterson, the chemistry editor of the dictionary, had submitted a 3in x 5in slip on which he'd typed 'D or d, cont/density'. What he meant to convey was that an upper case or lower case 'D' could be used as abbreviation for density. But an over-zealous typist figured he meant 'dord'. Whoops.
* Once 'D or d' had been stripped of its spaces and its status as an abbreviation, things began to snowball. It was assigned a part of speech (n.) and, later, a pronunciation (dôrd). "As soon as someone entered the pronunciation," wrote editor Philip B Gove some 15 years later, "dord was given the slap on the back that sent its breath into being." For five years, 'dord' lurked in the New International Dictionary; that line was eventually removed, and the definition of 'doré furnace' was lengthened by two words to make up the space. Phew.
* A 'dord' is, in fact, a Bronze Age Irish trumpet. This fact is not acknowledged by the online dictionary at merriam-webster.com. Maybe they're embarrassed.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments