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Conclusion

Looking beyond the Queer and Now

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2024

Stephen Turton
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

This chapter looks beyond the temporal scope of the rest of book to the legacy of the OED’s empirical principles for contemporary dictionaries. The chapter argues that there are limitations inherent in any lexicographical model whose aim is to document a language as it is commonly and widely used. Though this ‘majority rule’ approach may seem democratic, it cannot help but marginalize people whose practices or identities—and the language by which they express them—diverge from dominant norms. While digital advances have enabled new ways of making dictionaries, from corpus-building to online crowdsourcing, these have not allowed lexicographers to evade the ideological pitfalls that surround the documentation of ‘minority usage’, whether present or past. The chapter closes with a reflection on the future of historical research into language and sexuality, both within the dictionary and beyond it.

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Chapter
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Before the Word Was Queer
Sexuality and the English Dictionary, 1600–1930
, pp. 176 - 197
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Conclusion
  • Stephen Turton, University of Oxford
  • Book: Before the Word Was Queer
  • Online publication: 14 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009006804.007
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  • Conclusion
  • Stephen Turton, University of Oxford
  • Book: Before the Word Was Queer
  • Online publication: 14 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009006804.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Stephen Turton, University of Oxford
  • Book: Before the Word Was Queer
  • Online publication: 14 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009006804.007
Available formats
×