Cultural Literacy
I really thought the idea of making this dictionary was an interesting idea. But i just wonder how the author of it decides what to put into it. He said he would put common sense things into it, stuff that people know with out having to explain it. but the author has a Ph D, so something that may be obvious and common sense to him, may not be so obvious to other people. So I just am curious as to how he decides what is common sense to everybody.
Comments
Good entry. I agree with it all and thought I would expand a little. So the question here is: What is common knowledge? Which terms, names, places, and events should everyone be familiar with? It's obvious that specialized workers, such as doctors, are familiar with many terms that the public would be unaccustomed to. Therefore, his common knowledge would differ from universal common knowledge.
So how can decide what to include in a dictionary of cultural literacy? The first step in making a dictionary such as this would be to realize that it's impossible to make the perfect dictionary and choose the perfect words. Therefore, the goal of the end result would be to make a universal collaboration of most of the common terms that everyone in the United States would be familiar with. The second step would be to realize that some terms that would appear to be common knowledge wouldn't be in reality. Many terms are common in certain regions, but unknown to people in others. For example, many terms that would be common in the South would be unfamiliar to people in the North.
This new thought doesn't refer to the entry at all, but I just thought of this idea and thought I would share. Many people in the South refer to a beverage as "soda", whereas people in the North would use the term "pop." I'm curious if these terms would blend in some certain area in between the North and South? and if so, would the people that live there use the term "soda" or "pop"? any thoughts?
Alex Christianson
Posted by: Alex Christianson | October 2, 2006 2:02 AM