Free Republic

What sets the biddies swooning in Washington these days is the word "amnesty." Arlen Specter, for instance, last week had a conniption, saying "This word 'amnesty' is a code word, it is a code word to try to smear good-faith legislation." George Will rapped the knuckles of "faux conservatives" who were so impertinent as to use the forbidden word. And the Gray Lady herself, the New York Times, editorialized that "It Isn't Amnesty," wagging her finger at those who would employ "the most mealy mouthed word in the immigration glossary." Even the elite media have taken sides, mimicking their approach...

Two hundred fifty years ago, on April 15, 1755, Samuel Johnson published the first edition of his Dictionary of the English Language, compiled and written almost wholly by himself. It appeared in London in two folio volumes. Like most dictionaries, there is a rigorous serenity in the look of its pages. The language has been laid out in alphabetical order. The etymologies and definitions bristle with italics and abbreviations. The quotations that exemplify the meanings of the words present a bottomless fund of good sense and literary beauty. But I wonder whether anyone has ever had a more dynamic...