Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.: The Cutting Edge

As I usually do, I stopped on the way home from work to pick up the mail. I was hoping to see the red tag and key for the package compartment because I knew that it had been several days since my Amazon order had been shipped, but there were only some advertising flyers. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

When I got home, much to my surprise and delight, I saw that the box from Amazon had been delivered to the door! Bonus day!

In the box was a new Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

I did already have a dictionary, a really good one. A Big One. Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition. In fact, it is the exact same one that the local college library has. I have used mine countless times since I bought it shortly after it came out in 1987. Now, it's more than 20 years old.

Admittedly, I was drawn to the Collegiate 11th edition by the shiny silver sticker on the front, which lists some of the new words that are included: acai (haven't we all heard 10 different pronunciations of this one!), staycation, softscape, sudoku, celebutante (hadn't even heard that one!), and others just as intriguing.

Besides, I watched a video (also outdated) that had this advice: if your dictionary is more than ten years old, you're missing out! Language is alive and changing, and hundreds, if not thousands, of words are being added to the English language yearly.

As I mentioned, today's mail also brought some advertising flyers. As I flipped through one, I saw two words I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!! Great! An opportunity to use my new dictionary. Here's what the ad said: Kitchen Knives: NSF approved German steel blades retain an ultra sharp edge; blades have granton depressions for easy cutting without binding; non-slip santoprene handles.

Actually, there was also that abbreviation, NSF. From my banking days, I recalled that it meant "non-sufficient funds" but I doubted that was the meaning here. I found that meaning on the Internet: National Sanitation Foundation, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that develops standards for health and safety.

So that left "granton" and "santoprene" . . . NEITHER OF WHICH were in my new Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition!! Oh, the disappointment.

Yet all is not lost! I had heard of "neoprene" - work gloves are made of this stuff. So the -prene ending indicated some kind of manufactured material made from some chemicals. In fact, "neoprene" was in the dictionary. But santoprene? Well, in this day of the Internet, sure enough, santoprene.com came to my rescue. Santoprene is an Exxon Mobil chemical brand name used for all sorts of things - from chairs that give comfort by conforming to your body to a substance for improving pipe gasket performance. Okay, the knives had some kind of plastic handle. (But will they withstand the rigours of the dishwasher?)

I still had to deal with granton. The dictionary had nothing. Rien de tout. Nada. Back to the Internet. Hmm . . . a granton (often capitalized) edge has thumbprint-shaped depressions in a line about one-quarter to one-half an inch from the sharp edge of the blade on both sides. Apparently, these depressions prevent food (for example, tomatoes or soft cheese)from sticking to the knife.

And thanks to the cooksillustrated.com site, I found the origin of the term "granton edge":

Origins of the Granton Edge

William Grant, founder of the Granton Knives Company in Sheffield, England, patented this innovative edge in 1928. The company still hand-makes granton-edge knives with scallops carved all the way down to the cutting edge (imitators have scallops that stop just above it).

From the picture in the ad, I could see that these knives must be imitations because the grooves did not come all the way to the cutting edge.

A quick trip to Sheffield, England (via the Internet, of course) brought me to the Granton Knives Company Web site at http://www.granton-knives.co.uk/. These people know knives. They've been making knives for 408 years. I also saw that Granton is a registered trade mark, but, alas, like Kleenex and Scotch tape, now seems to have passed into general use for imitations, no less.

All this to say that the moment a dictionary is published, it's out of date (although the Granton edge was patented in 1928, so there's nothing new about it!)

Despite these slight disappointments, I hope to have many happy peregrinations through my new dictionary.