Dictionary lovers fizzle out

With the advent of the Digital Revolution, we have distanced ourselves from dictionaries. Gone are the days when students, teachers and office workers carried pocket dictionaries. Today’s students look up a word in the dictionary only when they are not sure of its meaning. As a result, we have produced a generation that cannot use English effectively.

Although lexicography has developed by leaps and bounds in the 21st century, its seminal beginnings could be traced back to the 18th century. In fact, the first great dictionary of English was published on April 15, 1755. It was Dr Samuel Johnson’s giant Dictionary of the English Language. With 42,000 entries Johnson had mapped the contours of the language, combining his erudition with a dash of wit and clarity of thought. It became the most important cultural monument of the 18th century.

Dr Samuel Johnson spelled out the methodology of compiling dictionaries

Johnson’s Dictionary was the precursor to all modern dictionaries inluding the Oxford English Dictionary and the Webster International Dictionary. While other lexicographers compiled dictionaries, Johnson wrote his dictionary. His spirit is imprinted on each of the finished pages of the dictionary. He not only defined words in his own inimitable way, but also included quotations to illustrate them.

‘Crazed imagination’

Critics say that Johnson suffered from a “crazed imagination.” Although the word “imagination” is loaded with positive connotations, for him it meant something very different. Johnson defined it as “a licentious and vagrant faculty impatient of restraint.” Some of his definitions appear to be philosophical in character. Johnson defined the word “rattle” as “to make a quick sharp noise with frequent repetitions and collision of bodies not very sonorous.” Similarly, a “cough” is “a convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity.”

Some of his definitions remind us that he was a poet. He defines “conscience” as “the knowledge or faculty by which we judge of the goodness or wickedness of ourselves.” A “trance” is “a temporary absence of the soul.” He has defined an “imp” as “a puny devil.” For him “rant” means “high sounding language unsupported by dignity of thought.” Anything described as “tawdry” is “meanly showy; splendid without cost; fine without grace; showy without elegance.”

Johnson was careful not to include indecent words in his dictionary. So, he omitted “buggery” and “shit.” According to some critics, some of his definitions seem “coy.” For instance, he defines “to lie with” as “to converse in bed.” However, Johnson was not a prude. He included words such as “bum”, “arse” and “piss.” Once an elderly woman congratulated him for omitting “naughty words”. Johnson answered her, “No, Madam, I hope I have not daubed my fingers. I find however, that you have been looking for them.”

Inaccuracies

Johnson’s Dictionary had its fair share of inaccuracies. The definition of “pastern” was a glaring example. Again, a woman wanted to know why he was so inaccurate. Johnson confessed, “Ignorance, Madam, ignorance.” However, when he revised the dictionary, the awkward entry was amended to read, “pastern means that part of the leg of a horse between the joint next to the foot and the hoof.”

Some of his definitions seem outlandish in the modern context. For instance, “soup” has been defined as “a strong decoction of flesh for the table.” He has obviously forgotten about the vegetable soup! For him, a reptile is an “animal that creeps upon many feet.” With all such outlandish definitions, Johnson’s Dictionary appealed to readers because they were amusing.

If you dig into his dictionary, you will find many more gems. He defines “oats” as “grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” He defined a lexicographer as “a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words.” The word “graft” means “to impregnate with an adscititious branch.” He says, a blister is “a pustule formed by raising the cuticle from the cutis, and filled with serous blood.”

Tribute

Lord Macaulay, paying a tribute said, “It was the first dictionary which could be read with pleasure.” Do people read dictionaries today? Most of them look up the meaning of a difficult word in a dictionary. They think a dictionary is not meant for reading. However, Macaulay once said that if he were to spend a long holiday in an island, he would take a dictionary for reading!

With all its shortcomings, Johnson’s Dictionary spelled out the methodology of compiling dictionaries. He also showed how entries should be presented. While condemning Johnson’s Dictionary, Webster conceded that its author was “one of the greatest men that the English nation has ever produced.”