In Between

In Between Elizabeth Knowles Oxford University Press Dictionaries As lexicographers, we are used to classifying words in convenient categories, especially to decide whether something is, or is not, a lexical item. Is a word a proper noun or place name, or is it functioning fully as a noun? Is a name an allusion that can be included as evidence for a lexical dictionary, or is it simply a reference to the original person or thing? Is a quotation increasingly likely to be used as part of the general vocabulary, without explicit reference to its origin? It is not necessarily difficult to answer the questions raised by particular examples, but it is not clear that complying with die distinctions we have made is the most helpful thing for the reader. It is easy enough to decide that something does not meet the consistent criteria we have established, but by omitting it we may be failing to provide information which a reader or hearer may need to decode a particular passage. Quotations offer a particular field of in between items: a type of linguistic resource lying between established phrases and idioms on the one hand, and passages likely to be found in a standard dictionary of quotations on the odier. We are used to distinguishing between a quotation ("To be or not to be" — Hamlet) and a phrase ("glimpses of the moon" from the same source) , even if the phrase has come from a quotation . But our current categories do not really leave room for quotations which have not, quite, attained the status of recognized lexical items, but which are likely to be part of many individual vocabularies. Quotations used (often allusively) for their associations as well as their literal meaning include lines such as "The better angels of our nature" (Abraham Lincoln), "Do not go gende into diat good night" (Dylan Thomas), "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair" (Shelley), Dictionaries:Journal ofthe Dictionary Society ofNorth America 27 (2006),137-138 138Elizabeth Knowles and "Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike" (Alexander Pope). They may be used allusively, or reworked, and it is likely that there will be no explicit indication of their source. Current evidence in OUP files offers two recent examples. A column from the Los Angeles CityBeat for 13 April 2006 gives a tongue-incheek account of the possibilities for decorating an office cubicle. Having suggested the installation of a "pimp" mousepad and a "bling" cap on the keyboard, the columnist points out die low cost (only $14.95). Reaching for Shelley's Ozymandias for emphasis, he concludes: "That's three lunches, but it's worth it. Look, ye mighty, on my cut-rate works, and despair." An article in the New York Sun of 12 May 2006, touching on difficulties in die British Labour Party, and the relationship between the Prime Minister and his likely successor Gordon Brown, concluded, "Mr Brown is willing to wound, but afraid to strike." (There is also some evidence for a reversal of order: evidence for "willing to strike, but afraid to wound" can also be found.) My personal interest lies, particularly, in the area of quotation lexicography, but as a general point I would suggest that there is a very fine balance to be kept between compiling dictionaries witii consistent lexical standards, and providing die fullest information likely to be useful to our readers. ...