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/lit/ - Literature

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8526823 No.8526823 [Reply] [Original]

Are reference books works of literature?

Sometimes you encounter one so lovingly and carefully compiled as to approach art, I think (pic related).

>> No.8526851
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8526851

De re metallica is sort of a 16th century version of this "comprehensive labor of love" concept.

The translation into English was done by, of all people, future US president Herbert Hoover.
(See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica))

This book is pretty much the sum total of metallurgical knowledge extant in the pre-industrial era.

>> No.8526877
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8526877

The OED is probably the pinnacle of this form. Way beyond being any one person's "labor of love", although several throughout its history have certainly made their contributions to it in that spirit.

I think the existence of the OED makes Modern English a unique landmark in the history of literature. Imagine if there were and equivalent contemporary work for ancient Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit. Imagine how, if it survives, it will color and inform the understanding of scholars of our period a thousand years in the future.

>> No.8526908

>>8526877

Do you think it will survive the trendy attitudes regarding "prescriptivism" ?

>> No.8526922

>>8526908
The OED (like all dictionaries I know of) is entirely descriptive, so I don't see any problem. If a word is used in a particular sense in the corpus, eventually that usage will be recorded (and cited) in the reference.

The backlash on "prescriptivism" is just a tendency to correct people who have already misunderstood what a dictionary is.

>> No.8526937

>>8526922

A black lady on youtube told me that what the dictionary says doesn't matter because it conflicts with popular left wing definitions of the word "racism."

They'll come for you one day anon.

>> No.8526946

>>8526937
You come to youtube to be annoyed, they aren't the ones coming for you.

>> No.8526959
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8526959

>>8526823

>> No.8526989

>>8526937
>conflicts with popular definitions
>If a word is used in a particular sense in the corpus, eventually that usage will be recorded (and cited) in the reference.

You're fishing, son.

>> No.8527302

>>8526959
Who is this book meant to be for?

It seems inadvisable for an amateur to take investment advice from a book. Or maybe mutual funds are the kind of thing where it doesn't matter?

>> No.8527310

>>8526823
You'll probably like Scouting for Boys and Cards as Weapons

>> No.8527409

Infinite Jest is a pretty good reference guide to suck at suicide.

>> No.8527699

>>8527302
Well the front cover references The Intelligent Investor, so it probably promotes a fairly conservative approach to long term investing in mutual funds. So yeah, you're not going to lose your ass.