Chemtrails in the Dictionary

Mick West

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The chemtrail conspiracy theory has been around for quite a while now, I've been debunking it for over six years over on contrailscience.com, so it's not surprising that it has made its way into the dictionary. The "chemtrail" entry in the Oxford English Dictionary is:

(Link requires library or subscription access)
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/318007?redirectedFrom=chemtrail&


chemtrail, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkɛmtreɪl/ , U.S. /ˈkɛmˌtreɪl/
Etymology: < chem- (in < chemical adj.) + trail n.1​, after contrail n.

In the context of various conspiracy theories: an aircraft's visible condensation trail, believed to contain chemical or biological agents released for sinister or covert puposes. Cf. contrail n.


1999 Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) 24 Mar. a12/3 What are the ‘chemtrails’? That is the term..coined to describe the strange contrails that many people have observed. They seem to be making people sick.

2002 Guardian 31 Aug. (Weekend Suppl.) 30 (heading) Books on Islam, ‘chemtrails’ from planes, a terrorist attack, a toxin, a virus, anthrax: what really lies behind the mystery rash that has afflicted schoolgirls across the US since September 11?

2007 L. Dunning Lost Landscapes 155 All things associated with UFOs (cattle mutilations, alien abductions, chemtrails, sightings, reports, videos, photos, and updates) can be found on this web site.

2010 E. Kintisch Hack Planet xi. 223 A vibrant community of conspiracy theorists is under the belief that geoengineering is already being deployed by governments by releasing so-called chemtrails in the sky.

"chemtrail, n.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 18 March 2013
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And in the free Oxford Dictionary:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/chemtrail
chemtrail Pronunciation: /ˈkɛmtreɪl/

Definition of chemtrail, noun


  • a visible trail left in the sky by an aircraft and believed by some to consist of chemical or biological agents released as part of a covert operation, rather than the condensed water of a vapour trail:
conspiracy theorists have been going wild with speculation over the nature and purpose of chemtrails

Origin:
1990s: blend of chemical and trail, on the pattern of contrail
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The existence of a word in the dictionary does not make something real. Dictionaries are descriptive - they describe how words are used in the language. "Chemtrail" is a real word because people use the word, just like "telekinesis", "Yeti", and "flying saucer" are real words.

The full OED definition is interesting, "In the context of various conspiracy theories: an aircraft's visible condensation trail, believed to contain chemical or biological agents released for sinister or covert puposes." as it really states quite clearly that it's a normal contrail simply contains additional stuff - but it's still just a contrail.

The free OED definition puts it another way "a visible trail left in the sky by an aircraft and believed by some to consist of chemical or biological agents released as part of a covert operation, rather than the condensed water of a vapour trail", which says it's not necessarily a condensation trail, and is probably more in line with the actual use by conspiracy theorists.
 
At some point the full OED has updated this definition to include the title of the 1990 USAF chemistry manual. This is a mistake, as it's not actually being used in the same sense.




chemtrail, n.

Pronunciation:
Brit. /ˈkɛmtreɪl/ , U.S. /ˈkɛmˌtreɪl/
Etymology: < chem- (in < chemical adj.) + trail n.1, after contrail n.

1990 Chem. 131 Man. (Dept. Chem., U.S. Air Force Acad.) Fall (title) Chemtrails.

1999 Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) 24 Mar. a12/3 What are the ‘chemtrails’? That is the term..coined to describe the strange contrails that many people have observed. They seem to be making people sick.

2002 Guardian 31 Aug. (Weekend Suppl.) 30 (heading) Books on Islam, ‘chemtrails’ from planes, a terrorist attack, a toxin, a virus, anthrax: what really lies behind the mystery rash that has afflicted schoolgirls across the US since September 11?

2007 L. Dunning Lost Landscapes 155 All things associated with UFOs (cattle mutilations, alien abductions, chemtrails, sightings, reports, videos, photos, and updates) can be found on this web site.

2010 E. Kintisch Hack Planet xi. 223 A vibrant community of conspiracy theorists is under the belief that geoengineering is already being deployed by governments by releasing so-called chemtrails in the sky.


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I see a lot of references to "conspiracy theory" there. Is that not a good thing?

At some point the full OED has updated this definition to include the title of the 1990 USAF chemistry manual. This is a mistake, as it's not actually being used in the same sense.

Ah....THAT is indeed an issue.
 
At some point the full OED has updated this definition to include the title of the 1990 USAF chemistry manual. This is a mistake, as it's not actually being used in the same sense.




chemtrail, n.

Pronunciation:
Brit. /ˈkɛmtreɪl/ , U.S. /ˈkɛmˌtreɪl/
Etymology: < chem- (in < chemical adj.) + trail n.1, after contrail n.

1990 Chem. 131 Man. (Dept. Chem., U.S. Air Force Acad.) Fall (title) Chemtrails.

1999 Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) 24 Mar. a12/3 What are the ‘chemtrails’? That is the term..coined to describe the strange contrails that many people have observed. They seem to be making people sick.

2002 Guardian 31 Aug. (Weekend Suppl.) 30 (heading) Books on Islam, ‘chemtrails’ from planes, a terrorist attack, a toxin, a virus, anthrax: what really lies behind the mystery rash that has afflicted schoolgirls across the US since September 11?

2007 L. Dunning Lost Landscapes 155 All things associated with UFOs (cattle mutilations, alien abductions, chemtrails, sightings, reports, videos, photos, and updates) can be found on this web site.

2010 E. Kintisch Hack Planet xi. 223 A vibrant community of conspiracy theorists is under the belief that geoengineering is already being deployed by governments by releasing so-called chemtrails in the sky.


Content from External Source
To be fair the OED only reports on the use of the word and its history. They are obliged to record the first mention.
 
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