What’s the big deal with Oxford Dictionary using Ethiopia in its entry on famine? It was one of those stories we used to get told from the time we were kids – like the lemlem aferachin one. Why do Ethiopians talk about it again and again and again?
Is Oxford Dictionary God’s word?
The wise Oxford Dictionary.
I couldn’t find the famine definition that makes everyone’s hair stand. I can’t be bothered to search harder for it. But here is another one from Oxford which I was able to find easily.
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, having a recorded civilization that dates from the 2nd millennium bc . Little known to Europeans until the late 19th century, it was invaded and conquered by Italy in 1935. The emperor Haile Selassie was restored by the British in 1941 and ruled until overthrown in a Marxist coup in 1974. The subsequent period was marked by civil war, fighting against separatist guerrillas in Eritrea and Tigray, and by repeated famines; after the fall of the government in 1991 a multiparty system was adopted.
An Ethiopian can easily look at this and go nuts. Our rich history our tradition and all the like..very little trace of it here…oh this is not right. Well, if we have something more to say let us write about it in any way we can. We can’t ask someone else to do our job. We have here chosen to blog. I feel great about this blog. Rather than burning inside, I can talk about what I make of the controversial dam projects, Osama’s killing, what I cooked, or whatever the heck I want to let out.
Owning the narrative.
What I hope is for other people to get into the habit of generating content that reflects their own perspective.
Here is one definition.
Oxford Dictionary is a dictionary written somewhere in the UK. It is probably an old dictionary. It comes with colourful binding and various sizes.
Would anyone from Oxford Dictionary come here and correct me? No! They have better things to do.
Go get your own stick.
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