According to the Brownielocks website, today is Dictionary Day in honor of it being Noah Webster's 252nd birthday. Webster's name became synonymous with the word dictionary after his book, The American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828. Noah was 70 years old when it was first came out. It contained 70,000 entries and was a two volume set. After Webster's death in 1843, all the unsold books and copyrights to his name was purchased by brothers George and Charles Merriam, who hired Noah's son-in-law to oversee revisions.
I do a lot of writing and we're a homeschool family, so dictionaries are a big deal in our house. We have several in our classroom and I keep one in my bedside table. I couldn't imagine not having one. Plus, they're online now too, which makes it even easier for people to look words up. It amazes me how some of the current dictionaries were banned because of certain words being in there. I just don't know about that one.
So, to all your word lovers ... Happy Dictionary Day!
Oh I love my dictionaries!
ReplyDeleteI like to balance my Oxford Dictionary with the good Webster's. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI heart dictionaries, too.
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