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Sleeping dictionary

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April 29, 2007, 14:06
Richard English
Sleeping dictionary
I learnt of this phrase this evening while watching the new BBC series, fronted by Victoria Wood, on the history of the British Empire.

Apart from those who saw the programme, can anyone guess what a sleeping dictionary was in the days of the Raj?


Richard English
April 29, 2007, 15:26
zmježd
can anyone guess what a sleeping dictionary was in the days of the Raj?

It's still the best way to learn a language or culture.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
April 29, 2007, 19:21
Kalleh
A dictionary that doesn't evolve with the times? Just a guess.
April 30, 2007, 00:56
Richard English
I suspect that Zm has the answer. So far as Kalleh's guess is concerned - well, there is an element of truth since the system has remained essentially unchanged for a long time.


Richard English
April 30, 2007, 01:43
BobHale
I think I have the answer too. If it's what I think it is I learned it from a Flashman book where the anti-hero has a certain facility for language aided by use of sleeping dictionaries.

I could be thinking along the wrong lines though.


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
April 30, 2007, 05:28
wordmatic
Is it recorded language lessons that you play while you are asleep so that your brain absorbs the new language unconsciously?

WM
April 30, 2007, 06:16
arnie
I've not heard it before, but I think zmj's correct. I suspect the "sleeping" part is the euphemism that RE has remarked on in the past.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 01, 2007, 20:54
Kalleh
Oh, I'd definitely choose z's answer over mine any day...no matter what the discussion or what the subject. Wink
May 02, 2007, 01:57
Richard English
I'll give it one more day - but there must be some significance in the fact the it is primarily the Brits that seem to have inferred the "naughty" interpretation.


Richard English
May 02, 2007, 04:39
wordmatic
quote:
Originally posted by Richard English:
I'll give it one more day - but there must be some significance in the fact the it is primarily the Brits that seem to have inferred the "naughty" interpretation.


Yes, but they are being so oblique about it that I am entirely lost. So it must mean "sleeping" with somebody that speaks that language. Well, you would learn a specific vocabulary that way, wouldn't you?

Wordmatic
May 02, 2007, 07:54
zmježd
Well, you would learn a specific vocabulary that way, wouldn't you?

Though, my sample size is small, i.e., two or three individuals, I have know some people to learn a language rather well using the sleeping dictionary methodology for applied linguistics. It's technically known as the immersion method and is one of the best. After the "sleeping" is finished with there's usually lots to talk about that involves advanced syntax and vocabulary.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
May 10, 2007, 05:54
Richard English
I've been dilatory in dealing with this. This is the answer.

During the days of the Indian Raj, most of the British officials were men and there was thus a great shortage of women.

Many men took Indian mistresses who, apart from their more obvious comforts, would obviously teach their lovers at least a few words during their otherwise physical encounters. Thus they were often given the euphemistic name "sleeping dictionaries".


Richard English
May 10, 2007, 15:43
Caterwauller
Ah - so the sleeping dictionary is actually a person . . . particularly one who engages in pillow talk?


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~Dalai Lama