Dope

The first term that comes to my mind when thinking of something that would have a definition in both the Oxford English Dictionary and Urban Dictionary is the word “dope.”  In recent times, dope has become a popular word to use to describe the drug heroin, or for those who don’t know what they’re talking about, to reference marijuana.  The authorities of the definition for each dictionary change, as do the definitions.

In the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition for dope is 1. a. Any thick liquid or semi-fluid used as an article of food, or as a lubricant. U.S.  This is a prescriptive definition, being that the authorities from the OED lay out rules for their definitions, based on what they think is “right and wrong.”  This is a very classic definition for the word dope, and can be referenced as far back as 1876.  The authorities of this definition have many degrees in English and devote their lives to deciding definitions of words.

On Urban Dictionary, the definition of the word dope is a little bit different.  My favorite definition for the slang is “heroin, not crack, not powder, but heroin. not marijuana, not meth. but heroin. heroin is the only thing that dope could ever be. people who don't know what dope is are people with very sheltered lives.”  This shows that Urban Dictionary’s authorities are just about anyone who wants to post a definition.  They’re all very much opinionated, and often quite humorous.  There is no “right or wrong” like in the Oxford English Dictionary, but rather pretty much any definition can be posted.

In my opinion, the Oxford English Dictionary and Urban Dictionary are useful for different words.  If I wanted just a standard definition for a word, I would use the authorities of the Oxford English Dictionary.  However, for any newer phrases or slang words, Urban Dictionary would give me the most diversity and choices for words.  As can be seen, dope when used in modern speech is a better word to look up on Urban Dictionary than in the Oxford English Dictionary.