NATIONAL DICTIONARY DAY October 16

https://nationaldaycalendar.com ^ | n/a | n/a

[heterosupremacist]

In 1806, American Noah Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. In 1807 Webster began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language; it took twenty-seven years to complete. To evaluate the etymology of words, Webster learned twenty-six languages, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic and Sanskrit.

Webster completed his dictionary during his year abroad in Paris, France, at the University of Cambridge. His book contained seventy thousand words, of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before.

Webster took a more phonetic approach to the development of his dictionary. Interestingly, the word didn’t appear when Webster published his dictionary in 1828 at the age of seventy. However, of the 70,000 entries, the word phonics is one. The dictionary sold 2500 copies. In 1840, the second edition was published in two volumes. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is available online. By entering the modern-day spelling, the website will produce Webster’s 1828 version...

[heterosupremacist]

[BenLurkin]

Gotta look that up in my Funk and Wagnell.

[pinkandgreenmom]

I wish I knew this when my son was moaning and groaning about having to look up his vocabulary words for “Great Expectations” today in homeschool.

[Fiji Hill]

Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam, 1961) generated considerable controversy. Heretofore, dictionaries had been prescriptive and served as authoritative references sources as to proper English. But this massive tome, first editions of which can still be found in public and academic libraries, took a descriptive approach, describing words as they were used and as such, sanctioned the use of slang and colloquialisms.

The ensuing war of words over the dictionary, fought out between conservatives and liberals in academic and opinion journals was a harbinger of the culture wars that would engulf all of American society as the 1960's unfolded.

[sparklite2]

Dictionary? What’s that? Let me google it...