Friday, 3 August 2018

Oxford Dictionary vs the Neckbeard

The pejorative use of the term "neckbeard" has found its way into Oxford Dictionary:
1. A growth of hair on a man's neck, especially when regarded as indicative of poor grooming. ‘I can picture myself wearing these clothes a week from now, bits of food caught in my overgrown neckbeard’
1.1 A man who is socially inept and physically unappealing, especially one who has an obsessive interest in computing. ‘I know people expect me to be some sort of balding, overweight neckbeard’
Of course, we can't blame Oxford Dictionary for simply reporting how the term is commonly used, and it's true that the pejorative use is common. But why not also include examples of the term "neckbeard" used neutrally, simply to refer to the beard style? The wiktionary entry is phrased with rather less bias:
1. A style of facial hair wherein the beard is allowed to grow down the chin and is trimmed to an even length over the entirety of the face.
2. (slang) A nerd; a dweeb. 

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