>>>Aha! Gotcha. ;)
>>>
>>>http://www.websters.com takes you to exactly the same place.
>>>
>>>Alan
>>
>>Take a look at the address bar when you do that. Clearly www.websters.com is not Webster's dictionary. Try www.merriam-webster.com. (And yeah, I know there are two different Webster's dictionaries.)
>>
>>Tamar
>
>How about that! I didn't know there are two different Webster's. Anyway, it looks like Merriam-Webster is the real Webster's. Ok then, I guess I didn't gotcha.
>
>Anyway, give it time. It took the advertising industry years to get 'cellulite' into the dictionary, but they eventually got it there.
>
>Alan

Alan;

A list of English dictionaries which is by no means complete:

1. American Heritage
2. Cambridge
3. Collins
4. Merriam-Webster
5. Newberry House of American English
6. Oxford
7. Websters Unabridged
8. Wordsmyth

To make it more interesting there is also a list of Canadian English dictionaries.

The English language takes many forms. I met a Catholic Priest who is also from San Francisco, who published a dictionary of Pidgin English. The Priest lived for years on Papua New Guinea. One day he was invited to give mass at our church. I learned Latin when I was in Catholic school and was an alter boy at the time the mass was said in Latin (until December 1964). I can assure you I had no idea of what the Priest was saying!

If your conviction is that you have a source to prove your use of a word then by all means present your argument! It is the person in a position of power or the person who is most persuasive who wins an argument! Being "correct" means nothing!

To be honest I love to argue in the philosophical sense and can easily take either side. The fun is in the exchange! Will such arguments solve the world’s problems? Heavens no! But it is fun to forget such problems and contend with something that is of less importance.

When I was young I had a very close friend whom I would argue with for hours about one concept or another. What I learned from my friend was it is important to listen to the other person’s argument or position. You must express yourself with reason, fact and respect for the other person’s viewpoint. When my friend and I were through with such a discussion we each felt each of us had expressed the “correct viewpoint” and would laugh about the whole matter. The truth only exists in the minds of men and no two men agree on anything of value!


Tom