ABSTRACT
Lexicography, the science and practice of dictionary-making, is a vibrant field, currently experiencing rapid growth as a result of the spectacular advances in technology of the last few decades. Dictionaries are no longer fusty tomes compiled by grey-bearded Victorian enthusiasts, who pinned down words like the corpses of exotic butterflies as though desiring to embalm the language itself. Dictionarymakers these days can be pretty savvy, maybe even hip, striving to outdo each other in the authenticity, contemporaneity and accessibility of their wordware. Indeed, although lots of dictionaries are still bought in book form, they are more likely to be consulted nowadays via pre-installed desktop computer applications, websites with online look-up and hand-held devices (Li, 2005).
