Physicist spots 99-year-old mistake in Oxford English Dictionary

[Viggen]

LOL

 

An Australian physics lecturer has spotted a 99-year-old mistake in the definition of the word "siphon" in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). "I found that almost every dictionary contained the same misconception that atmospheric pressure, not gravity, pushed liquid through the tube of a siphon." ...

 

...read the full article at the Telegraph

[Centurion-Macro]

Whoa...I don't mean to be rude to the guy or anything, but who cares?

[Melvadius]

Whoa...I don't mean to be rude to the guy or anything, but who cares?

 

I suppose it really depends how embarassed you may feel if you consider yourself to be a trained physicist and have actually read this entry in the last 100 years or so without noticing that it was wrong

[M. Porcius Cato]

Whoa...I don't mean to be rude to the guy or anything, but who cares?

 

An interesting question to raise on a forum devoted to ancient Roman history...

[Ursus]

I care so much it hurts!

[Centurion-Macro]

Whoa...I don't mean to be rude to the guy or anything, but who cares?

 

I suppose it really depends how embarassed you may feel if you consider yourself to be a trained physicist and have actually read this entry in the last 100 years or so without noticing that it was wrong

Very true...but surely you do not need a dictionary to realize what it means?

[Melvadius]

Very true...but surely you do not need a dictionary to realize what it means?

 

Which 'you', do you mean - 'me' personally or is this a more generic 'you' referring to 'the man (or woman) in the street' who reaches for a dictionary to look up the meaning of a lot of terms?

 

The issue with all dictionaries is that if 'you' have little idea how a particular word is spelt, 'you' can spend a long time reading through such a comprehensive and authorative Dictionary as the full OED trying to find the word AND meaning 'you' are looking for.

 

If 'you' have heard of a word such as 'siphon' but do not have an appropriate background then why shouldn't 'you' accept that the explanation in the Dictionary is the definitive explanation of a particular term?

 

I strongly suspect that most people, if they have looked up the term at all have only done so to check the spelling rather than as a means to get a proper definition of what the term means. A simple explanation that 'siphon' is something to do with the movement of water through pipes without active human intervention probably would suffice to blunt their level of interest.

 

I am possibly a bit jaded in suspecting that for most of the time 'the man in the street', unless they need to know the 'definitive' answer for a specific reason, probably couldn't care less what is the definitive meaning of most words. As far as siphon is concerend this could extend to not caring if the 'physical' reason for the movement of water through the siphon is gravity, air pressure or a bucket chain of leprechauns and may not even realise that (at least as far as the first two options are concerned) there could be a difference.

[Centurion-Macro]

...What a detailed response

 

Alright, I suppose it is a bit bad they had a mistake in it for some, as it the dictionary, but I would never look it up unless it was for spelling, as you state in your post.

[barca]

An interesting question to raise on a forum devoted to ancient Roman history...

 

How does this topic relate to Roman History? The Hellenistic period is closely tied to Roman History. Many basic physical science concepts were initially described by the Hellenistic Greeks. For example, look at this early description of a siphon:

 

http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/