Them Fancy New York Words

I was reading the New York Times review of “How to Read the Bible” (which sounds like a good companion to “Misquoting Jesus”) and was reminded of their website’s annoying “feature” that will open up a dictionary entry whenever you double-click any word. Does the Times really think its readers are so stupid that they need instant access to a dictionary to look up any big words their writers use? If I don’t recognize a word from some writer’s pretentious, word-a-day calendar vocabulary, I can look it up myself.


posted by greg on October 1, 2007 @ 6:59 pm

one comment so far »

  1. Well, the Internet is a global tool, so it’s not just Americans who frequent these websites. Maybe the NYT offers this feature as a help for that segment of their readership who aren’t native speakers and actually might need help with some of the bigger words that aren’t part of everyday vocab.

    Comment by Björn — October 4, 2007 @ 4:31 am

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