In the 18th century Francis Grose hung around the London waterfronts, listening for slang. David Maurer did the same in gin joints in the 1940s. Today’s lexicographers mostly use computers. But it’s just as exciting and dashing as what Grose and Maurer did. Maybe.
Some lexicographers (and many linguists) still listen to people speak for their research - it depends on what aspect of language one is trying to document. Most general dictionaries are largely (though not entirely) based on written language.
If one is writing definitions on how a word is employed in written use then most of this work can be done by looking through databases of various kinds of text (newspapers, books, diaries, etc.)
For no reason at all, here is a guide to British noble titles:
‘Prince’ comes from the Latin word that literally means “one who takes the first part.”
It shares its ultimate Latin root with words that denote firstness, like ‘principal’ and ‘prime’ and ‘primary.’
By tradition, only those born into the royal family can use ‘prince’ or ’princess.’
Even though many people refer to ‘Princess Diana,’ the title of ‘princess’ should properly come after her name, since she was not born into the royal family.
“Diana, Princess of Wales”
The title of Prince Philip, was the ‘Duke of Edinburgh’. He was also known as the ‘prince consort’ (husband of a reigning queen).
These peculiar titles with adjectives that follow the nouns are a byproduct of the French-speaking Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066.
Rudolph gets all the love so let’s talk about the names of Santa’s other reindeer.
dasher | noun | one that dashes
dancer | noun | one that dances
prancer | noun | one that walks or moves in a spirited manner
Ok, those three are easy to understand.
Now, we get to ‘Vixen.’ ‘vixen’ is a noun and has 3 senses.
1. a female fox 2. a shrewish, ill-tempered woman 3. a sexually attractive woman
Ummm, what’s going on here, Santa?
comet | noun | a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun