Tag: language
-
The Serious Business of Dictionaries: An Insight into the World of Lexicography
The creator of the first great English dictionary, Samuel Johnson, once wickedly mocked his own trade by defining a lexicographer as “a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.” Yet, dictionaries are serious business, and the people who devote themselves to them are anything but harmless. Dictionaries…
-
The Importance and Impact of Dictionaries and Lexicographers
Samuel Johnson, the creator of the first great English dictionary, once described a lexicographer as a “harmless drudge” who busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the significance of words. However, the importance of dictionaries is undeniable. They are repositories of erudition, monuments to linguistic authority, and battlefields in cultural and political struggles. Last…