On dictionary-making

People seem to think that nothing in the world is less interesting than dictionary -making. But this is a mistake.

Dictionary-making is in fact¹ an interesting job and interesting people are attracted to it.

One of these interesting people was Dr Samuel Johnson² who produced his dictionary on April 15, 1755. In Dr Samuel Johnson's days, dictionary-making was different from what it is now. It was a one-man operation. Dr Johnson had some help with his³, but it was his dictionary. And a number of men⁴ in his era,including two actors, published dictionaries on their own⁵. Another difference was that these men themselves tried to decide what was to be included and what not.

The modern dictionary-maker is more scientific. All words get his attention and he tries to include the words people use and show how they use them, and what these words mean.

The dictionary-maker of today has to keep his dictionary up-to-date. A fast -changing world creates a fast-changing language — new words for new tools,new weapons,new processes, new fields⁶ (such as automation),new ideas. Many new words win places in dictionaries as permanent words. Sometimes words are included for a time and dropped out in new editions. Today more than ever dictionary-making is a job for a scientist who knows not only books but the world around him.

Although the one-man dictionary is a thing of history,the number of men in the United States today who are dictionary-makers is still very few. Perhaps not more than half a dozen. These experts,however, are able to do their job by finding other experts to help them. One of the above -mentioned half-dozen says that he had to call in about 350 other specialists in various fields during the work on the American College Dictionary, one of the several new dictionaries that have appeared since the Second World War.

In this age of growing knowledge no man is able to do the job alone without the aid of other scientists.

A great event in all dictionary-making was the appearance of the Oxford English Dictionary, which the general public⁷ seldom sees. It is complete in more than twenty volumes. It contains 414,825 words and l,827,306 quotations which show the use of the words. To give one example: the word and letter "A" are explained in eleven and a half columns of small type.