United News of India, New Delhi, April 21
Newly rich, famous and successful earthly beings can now claim the title of Cinderella as the fairy world is losing its copyright over things that are wonderful.
Fairy-like beauty is to adorn the English language as Cinderella becomes more earthly to describe someone who suddenly becomes rich, famous or successful. The new Macmillan English Dictionary (MED) has entered this word also to mean someone or something that has good qualities but is treated badly or ignored.
The MED’s usage of the word could get a kick-start in India – ‘Primary education has long been the Cinderella of the education service’. In the 21st century, English, the lingua franca of the world, is getting more beautiful and politically correct. ‘Baywatch’, the popular television serial about life on a beach, now adorns the language to describe someone ‘very attractive’. And ‘man’ has given way to ‘people’ ending male chauvinism on the pages of lexicons.
To avoid causing offence, the MED, which was launched in India last month, advises the use of ‘humans, human beings, people, humanity or human race’ instead of ‘man’ and ‘mankind’ sometimes used to refer to humans in general, including men and women.
As more and more people are living longer, healthier and more active lives, the dictionary wants to move with the change in the concept of ageing. Therefore, ‘retired people’ or ‘senior citizens’ can replace offensive words such as ‘old’ and ‘elderly’. ‘As we move along it’s important that we come to terms with the fact that women are a force to reckon with. There is no harm in avoiding some words,’ says Uma Mani, general manager, ELT publishing and services at Macmillan India.
Further moving with the times, the MED, which comes with a CD-ROM, has entered a number of computer words too. ‘Netspeak’ is the new word for special language, abbreviations, and expressions used by people communicating on the Internet and ‘netiquette’ is rules of good Net behaviour.
The 1,692-page dictionary, which has over 100,000 references and 1,000 illustrated words, recognises the ascent of Indian English on the global stage by packing its pages with scores of entries of Indian origin. Becoming Queen’s English are ‘Chunni’, ‘Chup’ and ‘Chutney’.
The MED makes sure that nobody is left out. The word ‘mobile’ means not just ‘upwardly mobile’, but the right thing – ‘mobile phone’.
Reproduced by kind permission of Business Line