ICE

The word “ice was meant to be used only to describe only certain things in the human language. Over time, humans have expanded the meaning of the word into a whole different context. The variation of the word "ice” is evident in the differences of the Oxford English Dictionary and the Urban Dictionary. In the Oxford Dictionary, the word “ice” is defined as frozen water; water rendered solid by exposure to a low temperature. You might be thinking to yourself that this definition is very obvious and that there are no other definitions available. The Urban Dictionary tells us otherwise. Among frozen water, it defines “ice” as killing or murdering someone, the street name for the famous methamphetamine drug and the beautiful diamonds that one would wear on a necklace or earring. The differences in these two dictionaries are very fascinating because all of these definitions are in fact true. For example, one would think that there is no way that “ice” could mean to kill or murder someone. But, the term "ice" is used for the describing of a murder, like " that man just got iced" or " if that fool don't pay his rent he is gonna get iced." I know that this is not the proper Standard, but this is what separates the two dictionaries. The problem is that the Oxford Dictionary is descriptive while the Urban Dictionary is prescriptive. This is proven because the Oxford dictionary is written by scholars who have excelled in English courses throughout their college careers. The Urban dictionary can be written by anyone who knows how to use a computer, the fact is that anyone with a brain or no time on their hands can go make up a definition for any word that they choose. The Oxford dictionary has an authority while the Urban Dictionary has none, because everyone can write on it. I believe that the Oxford Dictionary is the more correct dictionary because more people are familiar with the definitions that they use rather than the Urban Dictionary.