October 16th is Dictionary Day, named in honor of the birthday of Noah Webster, the father of the American Webster dictionary.
I think that dictionaries are amazing works. They are dense and learned, packed with explanations, pronunciations and etymology. Imagine the task that faced lexographers when compiling the first dictionary. In order for a word to be considered, they had to discover its origins and provide adequate proof of its use. For a great story about the making of the famous Oxford English Dictionary, check out The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary.
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