Half a century ago, dictionaries told the truth

May 8, 2024 by Randall Hoven

I recently discovered a relic from an ancient civilization, and in my own house! It was titled “Webster’s Third New International Dictionary”, unabridged, copyright 1976. I looked up a few selected definitions in that parchment to see what the benighted people of that time thought words meant. The results might astound.

Woman: A female human being – distinguished from man. An adult female human being – distinguished from girl.

Man: A member of the human race: a human being: person – usually used of males except in general or indefinite application with collective adjectives or in the plural.

Marriage: The state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife. The mutual relation of husband and wife: wedlock. The institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family.

Perversion: The action of perverting. The condition of being perverted. A perverted form of something; especially some form of sexual gratification (e.g., fellatio, exhibitionism) preferred to heterosexual coitus and habitually sought after as the primary or only form of sex gratification desired.

Pervert: One that has been perverted or that manifests or is given to some form of perversion, especially sexual.

Gay: Excited and merry. Bright and lively in appearance. First-class, fine, excellent. Given to social pleasures: inclined to the dissipations of society: licentious, loose. Of a woman: leading to an immoral life, especially engaging in prostitution… [Eighth definition]: Homosexual.

Transgender: [Not in the dictionary.]

Transexual: [Not in the dictionary.]

Socialism: Any of various theories or social and political movements advocating or aiming at collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and control of the distribution of goods.

Communism: Theory advocating elimination of private ownership of property or capital.

Capitalism: An economic system characterized by private or corporation ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control, and by prices, production and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly in a free market.