A French dictionary was recalled after a computer virusIt's a little strange no one noticed they were printing the edition from 1874 -- there must have been thousands of differences, not just the racist ones. I wonder what definition was under 'idiot'?
caused the publication to revert to an edition with anti-Semitic definitions.
Earlier this week, MRAP, a French anti-racism association, charged that the 2005 edition of Le Petit Littre had reverted to an 1874 edition that contained racist and anti-Semitic definitions for entries such as “yellow,” “Negro” and “Jew.” The definition of “ghetto” reads, “neighborhood of a city inhabited by a mainly Jewish population.”
MRAP expressed its “indignation” at the publication, “which considers itself a resource for cultural reference, while it is stuffed with the worst racial stereotypes one could possibly imagine” and called for consumers, teachers and libraries to boycott the dictionary. A computer bug caused the 19th-century edition to be sent to the printer by mistake.
The dictionary’s publisher said the 2006 edition will be published with a foreword explaining the evolution of these terms since the 19th century.
UPDATE: Here are the offending defitions (in French). The definition for 'Jew' includes: "Someone who sells things exorbitantly expensively, and in general whoever seeks to earn money with roughness."