Canadian English Approaching Extinction?
When I graduated from high school, a family friend, who did not have much foresight at the time, gave me a thick print dictionary so I could use for college. That dictionary is so thick that I have never removed from the shelf on which I first placed it. Besides, why reach for a heavy dictionary when dictionary.com and m-w.com are at my finger tips?
With the availability of free online dictionaries, the decrease in sales of print dictionary is not surprising. Like any other publication companies, dictionary companies found ways to reach the users online. However, have these companies forgotten about the Canadians?
Oxford University Press laid-off the Canadian’s entire staff (which is only four) because of low demand for print Canadian dictionaries. At the same time, most online dictionaries are written for American English or British English. I googled “Canadian Dictionary” and came up with definitions of “Canadian” rather than a Canadian dictionary. One must wonder whether the Canadians will be able to preserve their non-British, non-American English nuances.
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