Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

by Kory Stamper

It seems like mentioning that surfboards aren’t always wood might be a good idea. Fortunately, for Merriam-Webster editors, there is a good detail hedge we can use: the parenthetical adjunct. It’s a device wherein we can give in-definition examples of a range without committing to the elements in that range. “A long, narrow, buoyant board made of wood, fiberglass, or foam and used in the sport of surfing” is a fabulous definition for right this very second, but what if some bright surfing engineer starts making boards out of a special kind of plastic? Or carbon fiber? Or what if they invent an entirely new polymer that your tiny word-bound brain can’t even conceive of in this moment, and that becomes the industry standard for surfboards in a few years? You can give yourself an out by using the parenthetical adjunct instead: “a long, narrow, buoyant board (as of wood, fiberglass, or foam) used in the sport of surfing.” The “as” signals that the list that follows isn’t exhaustive; the parentheses give a visual clue that this is secondary information; and the words themselves tell you some of the more common members of that range. This parenthetical adjunct tells you that surfboards are generally made of wood, fiberglass, or foam, but it also doesn’t rule out surfboards made of a sentient plastic that molds to the surfer’s foot and biometrically adapts to the rider’s surfing style, communicating with each molecule of water in the ocean underneath to produce the optimal wave f...