OXFORD DICTIONARIES HAS found itself embroiled in an online controversy after an anthropologist called them out over their definition of the word “rabid”.
Specifically, their decision to include the term “rabid feminist” as a usage example.
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Oman-Reagan soon uncovered other usage examples that could be perceived as sexist.
Like ‘shrill’.
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And ‘psyche’.
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How did Oxford Dictionaries respond to the whole thing?
By calling him a rabid feminist, of course.
D’oh.
As you might expect, people weren’t exactly impressed with the response.
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Oxford Dictionaries tried to argue that the term “rabid feminist” didn’t necessarily have negative connotations, but nobody was buying it.
Last night, Oxford Dictionaries apologised for their earlier tweet and stated that they would review the primary example sentence used for ‘rabid’.
Hear, hear.
