Against the use of dictionaries and other extraneous materials

[Paul Mackin]

There might be something to be said for applying the judge's ruling  
in the Moussaoui sentencing trial (to some degree anyway) to

the reading of novels. including Pynchon novels.  It's better to rely  
on the language we have, not the language the dictionary has.

I don't imagine many novelists ever look up the words they use in the  
dictionary. Unless to check spelling


(not applicable of course to non-native speakers of the language in  
question)




"On Tuesday, the jury asked Brinkema for a dictionary but the judge  
refused, saying she would not allow ``extraneous''

reference material in the jury room."


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-security-moussaoui.html

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