JOURNAL ARTICLE

Look That Up in Your Funk & Wagnalls!

  • Published In: National Review, 2023, v. 75, n. 18. P. 50 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: GARNER, BRYAN A. 3 of 3

Abstract

Because dictionary publishers periodically issue press releases about the neologisms they now record - last year, for Merriam-Webster, these included adorkable (endearingly awkward), ICYMI (in case you missed it), shrink-flation (a seller's giving less of a commodity for the same price), and yeet (to throw) - we tend to think that's where the action is. When Samuel Johnson produced his great Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, he was trying to best such rivals as Nathan Bailey and Benjamin Martin, both of whom had compiled creditable dictionaries. My late friend James Sledd, a University of Texas linguist who was an expert on lexicography among other things, was politically to the left. [Extracted from the article]

Additional Information

  • Source:National Review. 2023/10, Vol. 75, Issue 18, p50
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0028-0038
  • Accession Number:171935055
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