JEWS, Gypsies, gays, feminists and even people from Galicia are up in arms over the latest edition of the authoritative dictionary of the Spanish language, which they say promotes prejudice and racism.

They say that definitions relating to them in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy are outdated and demeaning. Their complaints have created a heated dispute with the compilers of the latest version of the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española — equivalent to the Oxford English Dictionary — who have dismissed the concerns as political correctness gone mad.

The Spanish Federation of Jewish Communities protested against the dictionary’s refusal to withdraw negative references to Judaism, and Pilar Heredia, the president of Yerba- buena, a women’s Gypsy association, told the Spanish daily El País that a definition of gitano (Gypsy) was disgraceful and could encourage racism. Señora Heredia said: “We would like this definition to be removed from the dictionary.”

Homosexual groups have taken offence at a slang reference that means “effeminate, weak man”. Myriam Navas, of the Madrid Gay, Lesbian Transsexual Collective, said: “I don’t like the way that homosexuality is often associated with effeminacy, when everybody knows how diverse the gay world is.” Señora Navas said that the dictionary prided itself on being “clean, correct and splendorous” and yet used “offensive” definitions.

Women’s groups have said that the dictionary should flag sexist words. Eulàlia Lledó, a co-author of the book Of Women and Dictionaries, pointed to ajamonarse, “to become like a ham”, which is used for pregnant women.

The dictionary has also managed to offend Galicians. Francisco Rodríguez, a parliamentary spokesman of the nationalist Galician National Bloc party, has demanded that a “stereotypical and prejudicial” definition be removed.

However, José Antonio Pascual, a Spanish language specialist, defended the dictionary. “We simply photograph the landscape; we don’t create it,” he said. “We seem to have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. Uniformity of language frightens me. We are losing our sense of irony.”

FIGHTING WORDS

Sinagoga (synagogue) A meeting for illicit ends

Gitano (Gypsy) One who practices deceit or who tricks

Marica (ladybird or slang for gay man) Effeminate, weak man

Ajamonarse (to become like a ham) Used to describe how pregnant women increase in size

Gallego (Galician) Dumb, stupid or deaf, in Costa Rica and El Salvador

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