When every word counts
By David Larsen
New Zealand Herald - Saturday July 20, 2013
Lexicographer Dianne Bardsley tells David Larsen about her love affair with words
New Zealand English: a majority language so sure of itself it doesn't need legal existence? Well, she'll be right, I expect. "A common phrase that preceded 'no worries' in New Zealand; often shortened to 'she's right', and often accompanied by the term 'mate'." And, in its literal application, useful when talking language with Bardsley, a professional lexicographer who knows her stuff.
What exactly is a lexicographer? Among other things, it's the right person to ask for a word definition: "A lexicographer is someone who compiles dictionaries, basically. It involves the study of words, but to qualify you've got to gather them into a lexicon."
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