Websters Dictionary?

A group of people who read a lot go over words that appear in mainstream opinion-leader publications like the New York Times or that are known for literary acumen and good writing like the New Yorker to find new words that are being used, or used in new ways, or that define new concepts. When a word shows up often enough (like “black hole,” which is a phrase, strictly speaking) they consider it part of the language, and put it in the dictionary. If a word doesn’t get used (like say, “brewis,” which is Scots dialect for gravy over a slice of bread) they take it out. The idea is to have a volume that can be lifted and carried around (unlike an unabridged dictionary, which can sit on a stand at a library) yet still be useful to anyone who can read English. They are most likely people who have doctorates in English. They are paid by the company that publishes the dictionary in question, like Merriam/Webster or Random House. Some do it full time and some are college professors who consult.

Back in the sixties there was a big furor about how the Third Unabridged Edition of Merriam/Webster went from prescriptive (telling people how to speak properly) to descriptive (noting how people actually speak, but not putting a value judgment on it). The more conservative linguists among us thought the language was going to the dogs if people could look up “ain’t” and find out it was short for “am not.”

Webster Dictionary

The 11th edition of the Merriam Webster’s dictionary contains 225,000 entries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Dictionary

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