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Old 05-12-2010, 02:51 AM   #1
GA Russell
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Oxford Dictionary to correct 99-year old error
It turns out that in 1911 the Oxford English Dictionary misdefined the scientific principle behind how/why a siphon works. It is only now that the error has been brought to the editors' attention.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05...est=latestnews

I see that the same error is made by dictionary.com

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/siphon
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Old 05-12-2010, 03:20 AM   #2
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Well.

Better late than never.
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Old 05-12-2010, 03:32 AM   #3
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It took a century for this error to come to light? I wonder what other long overlooked errors are in there.
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Old 05-12-2010, 04:01 AM   #4
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Old 05-12-2010, 04:05 AM   #5
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People who know how a siphon works probably don't have to look it up. People who do have to look it up don't know how it works. So it took a while (99 years, apparently) for someone who knows how a siphon works but not how to spell it to look it up.
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Old 05-12-2010, 12:51 PM   #6
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Ha! This is awesome. Perhaps every subsequent definition of "siphon" was just copied from the Oxford 1911 edition.
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Old 05-12-2010, 06:17 PM   #7
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Boy, that sucks.

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Old 05-12-2010, 06:19 PM   #8
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Don't they have any respect for tradition?
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Old 05-12-2010, 06:21 PM   #9
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I remember a prof telling us the origins of OED, and how full of errors it is.
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Old 05-12-2010, 10:18 PM   #10
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Old 05-13-2010, 09:44 AM   #11
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Old 05-13-2010, 09:48 AM   #12
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Old 05-13-2010, 10:03 AM   #13
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GROAN.

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