Corrections to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Unauthorized Corrections to the
Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition
Don Mills, Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2004

New: vine maple (January 2007), dragon boat (October 2006)

Entry	Comment
Browning, Kurt He took the Canadian and world men's championships in 1989, 1990, and 1991, winning the worlds again in 1993.	He was world and Canadian champion four times—in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993 (Google Who was that masked man who won the Canadian title in 1993?). 2004-08
Callwood, June . . . writings include The Law is not for Women . . . .	Caps: in title case, verbs (Is) and adverbs (Not) are capitalized. 2004-08
Churchill . . . situated at the mouth of the Churchill River and Hudson Bay. . . .	Sentence fault: on Hudson Bay. 2004-09
Cummings, Burton . . . He was the lead singer of the Guess Who (1968–75). . . .	Factual error or misleading date: Cummings joined the group in December 1965, give or take (Canadian Encyclopedia, classicbands.com, Blue Rodeo). The group used the name Guess Who well before 1968, if that is an issue. And Cummings was "the voice of the band" probably by 1966 (John Einarson, True North Records artist bio), if that is an issue. No sugar tonight for you, Oxford. 2004-08
dragon boat . . . propelled by a crew of 22 paddlers and used in races.	Factual error. Dragon boat crews comprise a drummer, a steerer, and up to 20 (not 22) paddlers. ("The Dragon Boat -- History and Culture" [PDF document], International Dragon Boat Federation, link, accessed 2006-10-20. "History of Dragon Boat Racing," British Dragon Boat Racing Association, link, accessed 2006-10-20. "Dragon Boat," Wikipedia, link, accessed 2006-10-20. Google.) Submitted by Diana L., 2006-10. Thanks Diana. 2006-10
earth station noun a station which receives or retransmits signals received from satellites	Sentence fault: the station receives signals from satellites. To Oxford, it receives (or retransmits signals received from) satellites, or receives (or retransmits) signals received from satellites. Incomplete definition: an earth station is not restricted by definition to receiving from satellites; it may transmit to satellites. Compare American Heritage, Google Glossary, Webster's. 2004-08, 1998
Johnson, Ben . . . record times of 9.93 seconds at the World Championships in Rome (1987). . . .	Factual error. 9.83 seconds; Carl Lewis was 9.93 and a metre behind (search). 2004-08

Lafleur, Guy Damien . . . he retired during the 1984–85 season.	Temporarily. Then he played 1988–89 with the New York Rangers and 1989–90 and 1990–91 with the Quebec Nordiques. 2004-09
Martin, Paul Edgar Phillipe . . . succeeded Jean Chrétien as Liberal prime minister in 2004.	Misspelling: Phillipe should be Philippe, if the Web can be believed (Google phillipe vs. philippe). Factual error: Paul Martin was sworn in as PM of Canada on December 12, 2003 (search; Governor General of Canada; Canada's Prime Ministers, parl.gc.ca). 2004-08
no one noun no person; nobody	Everyone else classifies no one, thus defined, as one of the indefinite pronouns (Google, American Heritage, Webster's, Darling, Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Encarta World English Dictionary, Wordsmyth, Random House Webster's College Dictionary [1990], Cambridge). Identified as a possible mistake by M.G. in the newsgroup can.politics, 2004-03-28. 2004-09
Orr, Robert Gordon He joined the NHL Boston Bruins in 1967. . . .	Factual error: his first season was 1966–67; his first NHL game was on October 19, 1966, at the Boston Gardens (BostonBruins.com, bobbyorr.com, ESPN, Canada's Walk of Fame, Google orr "calder trophy" "1966-67", Hockey Hall of Fame - Great Moments - August 1966, The Biographical Dictionary, Britannica, Canadian Who's Who 1997). 2004-08
Stojko, Elvis Four times Canadian champion	Seven times (search). 2004-08
vine maple a shrubby maple tree of the east coast of N America, Acer circinatum. . . .	Factual error: the west coast of North America, not the east coast (search). Submitted by Raymond R. Fielding, author of Shrubs of Nova Scotia: A Guide to Native Shrubs, Small Trees and Woody Vines (Halifax, 1998), 2007-01. Thanks Ray. 2007-01

Word Breaks

New in the second edition are the recommended word breaks in headwords. We will just note that Oxford flouts some common rules.

Do not carry over to the next line a final syllable in which the l is the only audible vowel sound.
bristle (not bris-tle)
diri-gible (not dirigi-ble)
— U. of M.

Final syllables in which a liquid l is the only audible vowel sound should not be carried over (pos-sible, not possi-ble; prin-ciples, not princi-ples).
— The Canadian Style (Toronto: Dundurn, 1985)

Oxford: bris-tle, prin-ci-ple.

Do not divide words that will have a misleading appearance if broken.
carton (not car-ton)
flower (not flow-er)
— U. of M.

Avoid awkward divisions, such as would result from attempting to divide every, only, eighteen and people.
— The Canadian Style (Toronto: Dundurn, 1985)

Oxford: car-ton, eight-een, super-fluous, super-nal (su-per-nal)

2004-09

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Copyright Info

All text in the Entry column of the table is from the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition (Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, 2004) and belongs to the copyright holder, Oxford University Press Canada. Like you didn't know that. Like anyone else would claim it. Everything outside the Entry column you can blame on that old fussbudget Mark Breault, who has to have something to do between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m.