How to Use This Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002

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CONTENTS · ENTRY INDEX · GUIDE · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

How to Use This Dictionary

The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy is a departure from all other reference works in its attempt to identify and define common cultural knowledge rather than to present a lexicon of words or topics. Nonetheless, for the convenience of our readers, this book incorporates some of the conventions found in standard dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Organization

The Index
The first place to look for a particular topic in this dictionary is the alphabetically ordered index found at the end of the book.

Subject Sections
The main body of the dictionary is divided into the twenty-three sections listed in the Contents. These sections follow the traditional division of subject matter that a student should have encountered by the senior year in most high schools. Some particularly lengthy subjects have been divided into two sections according to the most common divisions used in classrooms and textbooks. For example, the year 1865 marks the dividing point between the two sections on American history because this date is traditionally used as a historical divider in American history courses. Within each section, entries are listed alphabetically. Proper names, quotations, or phrases are listed by their most commonly recognized element.

Because cultural literacy embraces more subject matter than is usually treated in an academic setting, this book contains several topics, such as proverbs and idioms, that may be encountered only indirectly in the classroom.

Definitions
Each entry provides a concise definition and also the current cultural sense of the term.

Cultural Associations
Most definitions make the cultural sense of an entry self-evident, but such is not always the case. Some entries require further information. Cultural associations follow the definitions and are identified by the symbol ‡. When an entry has more than one cultural association, each one is preceded by the symbol.

Cross-References
Cross-references throughout the dictionary expand the information given in each entry and indicate relationships between various entries. Set in small capitals, cross-references appear as part of a definition or cultural association, as in the example above, or are listed at the end of the definition. Cross-references refer to entry words included in the index.

Pronunciation
Some of the entries in this dictionary have unusual pronunciations; therefore, a pronunciation guide is provided. This guide appears in parentheses after the entry word. No special symbols are required for understanding these pronunciations. Instead, pronunciations rely on individual letters or familiar combinations of letters to convey their sound. Variant pronunciations are given whenever necessary. Pronunciations are broken into syllables separated by hyphens. The primary accent in a word is indicated by capital letters. In most cases the sound represented in the pronunciation is easily understood, but a key is provided here for your use.

Pronunciation Key

	When A Sound Appears As	It Should Be Pronounced As In

	a	pat, sand, laugh
	ah	father, car, calm, heart
	air	hair, fare, pear
	aw	law, caucus, all, short, talk, bought
	ay	pay, make, wait
	b	bib, rubber
	ch	church, watch, cello, nature
	d	deed, filled
	e	bet, edge, berry, bury, said
	ee	bee, each, me, conceit
	eer	beer, ear, clear, pier, weird, cereal
	eye	bite, by, aisle, buy
	f	fife, phase, rough
	g	gag, again, ghost
	h	hat, ahead, who
	i	bit, if, spinach, manage
	j	jar, judge, gem, edge, manage
	k	kick, cook, account, pique
	kw	quick, acquire, choir
	l	let, lull, little
	m	mum, summer, column, climb
	n	nine, sun, sudden
	ng	sing, think, angle
	o	pot, clock, honest
	oh	go, hope, toe, coat, show, owe, sew
	oo	book, wood, pull, would
	ooh	boot, too, rule, suit
	ow	cow, town, out, house, bough
	oy	toy, point, noise
	p	pop, apple
	r	roar, hurry, rhythm, write
	s	sauce, pass, city, whistle
	sh	ship, dish, tissue, addition, anxious
	t	tight, attempt, stopped
	th	thin, breath, nothing
	thh	this, breathe, other
	u	cut, up, above
	uh	about, item, edible, lemon, circus, famous, better
	ur	urge, term, firm, word, heard
	v	valve, river, of
	w	with, away, one, quick
	y	yes, onion, hallelujah
	yoo	cure, pure, uranium
	yooh	you, use, cue, few, beautiful
	z	zebra, buzz, rose, anxiety
	zh	beige, vision, pleasure

A few foreign words that appear in this dictionary use special sounds not usually found in English. These are shown below.

When A Sound Appears As	As In	It Should Be Pronounced

eu	danseur, (French), schön (German)	Like the sound “ay” or “e” made with the lips in position for saying the sound “oh”
kh	loch, Chanukah, ich (German)	Like a harsh, rasping “h” sound
nn	enfant terrible (ahnn-FAHNN te-REE-bluh), São Paulo (sownn POW-looh)	With the vowel just before it is nasalized, or pronounced with the nasal passages open so that the breath comes out of both the mouth and nose (the “nn” is not pronounced as a consonant sound)
uu	grün (German), tu (French)	Like the sound “ee” or “i” made with the lips in position for the sound “ooh”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · ENTRY INDEX · GUIDE · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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