Marriage to stay as a union of a man and a woman... for now
7:00am Wednesday 31st July 2013 in News 
By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439
THE OXFORD English Dictionary has distanced itself from reports that it plans to redefine marriage in light of changes to the law to allow same-sex unions.
It followed reports in a number of national newspapers and online publications that the dictionary, published in Oxford by Oxford University Press, had confirmed it would be changing the definition of the word marriage.
But Nicola Burton, of OUP, said although it may change in the future they didn?t have any immediate plans to do so.
She added: ?Many of our dictionaries including the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as oxford dictionaries.com, already include references to same sex-marriage as part of their definitions.
?Dictionaries reflect changes in the use of language, rather than changes in law, and we are constantly monitoring usage in this area in order to consider what revisions and updates we may need to make.
?We will monitor the usage of marriage in the same way we monitor any other word as circumstances change in how we start to use them. We don?t have a timeline on it, it will be a case that as we monitor it and see it has changed in use we may well change it in the future.?
Currently, OUP describes marriage as ?the formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognised by law, by which they become husband and wife?, clarifying ?(in some jurisdictions) a union between partners of the same sex?.
Tanner Efinger, 29, general manager of the Jam Factory in Hollybush Row, and Nick West, 31, a DPhil student at Wolfson College, were married in the USA last month.
Mr Efinger said: ?This is a really big deal, it?s not a small thing. The fight for marriage equality had been a really complex one that involved not only rights and responsibilities that are granted to every couple, but also the definition of the word which is what a lot of people had been fighting against. It goes to the point of being separate but equal, or actually equal.?
Tony Brett, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Oxford who is himself in a civil partnership, pointed out the dictionary did not define words, but described how they were used.
He said: ?It is a natural thing to happen, given the law has now changed. I would expect any decent dictionary to keep its descriptions and words up to date to reflect what?s happening, and I would be surprised if it did not happen.?
But not everyone believes the definition should change.
David Snow left the Conservative Group on West Oxfordshire District Council in protest against the party?s stance on gay marriage.
He said: ?While it is inevitably looking to go that way, from a Christian perspective I believe marriage should be exclusively a male female union.?
HOW LANGUAGE IS CHANGING
THE Oxford English Dictionary is updated four times a year.
The most recent update, in June, included the addition of words and phrases including dad dancing, epic, fiscal cliff, flash mob, follow, geekery, pay day lending, the silent treatment, and tweet.
In March, the additions included credit crisis, friend with benefits and friend in high places.
It also saw the Paralympic sports of boccia and goalball included for the first time, as well as podium as a verb.
December 2012 saw the imagined and humorous American disease of ?senioritis?, described as ?a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or university, esp. characterized by a decline in motivation or performance?.
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