Norms and Margins of English

Abstract : When the editors of the Oxford Junior Dictionary decided in 2007 to delete nature words such as acorn, conker, dandelion, otter and willow to make room for blog, broadband, chatroom, MP3 player and voice-mail, there was a public outcry. Eight years later, indignation was still being voiced, with a letter of protest signed by wellknown writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Morpurgo, Andrew Morton and Ruth Padel. Such a reaction is far from being exceptional.