An article on the controversy surrounding the third edition of Webster’s dictionary, published in 1961. The dictionary was quite possibly the quirkiest in the history of the English language, but it’s also gotten a lot of undeserved criticism. Aside from clearing up a bunch of misunderstandings about the book, this article also delights in detailing the idiosyncracies of the dictionary, such as “an almost full set of entries for curse words (excluded from W2) … with the single exception of the F-word”, and this definition of the word “door”:
a movable piece of a firm material or a structure supported usu. along one side and swinging on pivots or hinges, sliding along a groove, rolling up and down, revolving as one of four leaves, or folding like an accordion by means of which an opening may be closed or kept open [and so on, and on, and on…]
(via Language Log)
Jul 9, 2009