A dictionary entry citing ‘rabid feminist’ doesn’t just reflect prejudice, it reinforces it | Emer O’Toole

Objectionable phrases may be widely used, but Oxford Dictionaries has a responsibility to define them by other means

A Canadian anthropologist, Michael Oman-Reagan, tweeted Oxford Dictionaries last week to ask it why “rabid feminist” is its Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) usage example for the word “rabid”. Oxford Dictionaries responded by suggesting Oman-Regan may be a rabid feminist. It has since apologised for the “flippant” response and is reviewing the example sentence.

Other sexist ODO sample sentences, according to Oman-Regan, include those for words such as shrill, nagging and bossy. Oxford Dictionaries has explained that these sentences reflect common usage – which I do not doubt – and do not represent the views of the publisher Oxford University Press. But they also, of course, reflect an editorial decision.

Related: Sexism row prompts Oxford Dictionaries to review language used in definitions

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