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Friday, April 24, 2009

Quilling in the dictionary - follow up

I thought I would update you on our efforts to get quilling into the dictionary. As I told you last time, Merriam-Webster were nice enough to thank me for my inquiry and sent me some info as to how a word goes about being selected to add to the dictionary. (See previous post) Since they talked about keeping track of how many times it is used, I thought I might aid them in their research. I sent them the bibliography which lists all of the quilling articles, books, kits etc. compiled by Donna DelGuidice, the archivist for the North American Quilling Guild. The copy I sent them included everything Donna has listed up to 2006. She is presently working on updating those files; when I get them I will email those to Merriam-Webster as well. I figured that if I keep pestering them and sending them more info, they might actually get around to adding it. This is the email I sent this time:

“Thank you for your response to my inquiry. I have attached a bibliography compiled by the North American Quilling Guild. It includes a pretty comprehensive list of books and articles about quilling, as well as quilling kits. This list includes everything we (the NAQG) guild have compiled up to 2006 and is currently being updated; perhaps this will be useful in your citation research. Those of us who quill are very hopeful that you will decide to add quilling to the dictionary. This art form, the art of rolling narrow strips of paper and pinching them into various shapes to create intricate and beautiful art work, dates back many centuries. The only way we see the term used today is in reference to porcupine quills or the Native American craft of using those quills to create jewelry and other decorative work. I have also seen the term "quilling" used to refer to the time when hedgehogs lose or shed their quills. If there is anything the North American Quilling Guild or I can do to help in this endeavor, please let me know.”

If any of you are interested in jumping on the band wagon, please do! (Merriam-Webster)

On another note, Ann Martin, another quiller posted this on her blog: Those of us who do paper filigree know that spell check isn't happy with the word quilling. Whether we type it or quiller in an email or Word doc, the words are flamed with bright yellow causing us to see red. Thanks for the suggestions dear computer, but we are neither quilters nor killers. Since paper quilling has been around for hundreds of years, it's high time it's defined in the dictionary and is accepted as a word in its own right.Pat Caputo of Whimsiquills recently wrote to Merriam-Webster to present the idea of adding the definition of quilling as we know it - the art of rolling narrow strips of paper to make an intricate design - to the dictionary. While Pat works on that aspect, there's something that each one of us who quills can do to help in the meantime.The next time you type quilling or quiller in an email or Word doc and it shows up as a misspelling, just click the word, and then click Add to Dictionary. It won't be marked as misspelled again by your computer - huzzah! - and perhaps even more important, the information will be fed to Microsoft's software. Once a correction is received enough times, it reaches real, live editors who make a decision on whether to make the change.

So... quillers unite! If we work together, we can make a difference. And if you're a quiller and a geek, you can read more here about Microsoft's spelling policy.

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