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Wells's History Presidential Inaugurals ----- All Fiction ----- Shelf of Fiction Ghost Stories Short Stories Shaw, G.B. Stein, G. Stevenson, R.L. Wells, H.G. Reference > The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy   PREVIOUS 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.   1   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.   2 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.   3   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.   4 Definitions Each entry provides a concise definition and also the current cultural sense of the term.   5 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.   6 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.   7 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.   8   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   9     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”   10     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   PREVIOUS   Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore. 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