Register Label "Humorous" in the Medal and Oald

As it has been discussed in the present essay, dictionaries may be of different type, and they may have different target audience. However, for non-native speakers, learner’s dictionaries may be of more use, because they are designed to suit the potential requirements of their customers, that is, people who study a language. Besides, dictionaries are designed by people, who influence the result and the words included in the dictionary, depending on their views on how words should be used. Personal preference has been discovered in the OALD and MEDAL dictionaries as well, performing the analysis of the headwords labeled as ‘humorous’ that have been included in both dictionaries and determining their differences and similarities. Therefore, the analysis of usage of the register or style label marked as ‘humorous’, that has been discussed in the present essay, shows the difference in headwords the OALD and MEDAL compilers have chosen to represent ‘humorous’ words. The difference pointed out in the present essay may cause devoted users of one of the dictionaries, the OALD or MEDAL, have different perspective on what is really humorous in the English language and what is not. Of course, it would have been much easier, if there were standard styles applied to the same words and phrases, but considering the wide range of varieties of one language and different perceptions of different people, it is hardly ever possible, because what seems humorous to one person may be insulting or rude for another person. Therefore, the choice of labels depends on the background of the compiler. …