"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote in message . ..
"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote
Common names are quite tricky. I have only limited faith in
dictionaries, although obviously they are great for a quick approximation.
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Mike Lyle schreef
Hell of a lot more reliable than people, though! But what they *can*
tell you is when a name was first published.

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Depends on the dictionary!
Usually a dictionary will have been checked more often than what a person
says. Does not mean it is error free. Usually it will only show when a word
was first included in a dictionary.
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That isn't the case with English dictionaries, British or American:
they generally quote from other dictionaries only when there is no
earlier use known in literature. For examples see *Oxford English
Dictionary*, the very big one we usually call *OED*; or *New Shorter
Oxford English Dictionary*; or Merriam-Webster online.
[...]

Mike.