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 A History of English Dictionaries
 

Johnson’s Shortcomings
 
Johnson (1775) showing his intense concentration and the weakness of his eyes; he did not want to be depicted as "Blinking Sam"[

  • A certain unevenness of treatment: words at the beginning of the alphabet were more generously handled than those at the end

 

  • Half of the quotations come from just seven sources – Shakespeare, Dryden, Milton, Addison, Bacon, Pope, and the Bible

 

  • Some of the words selected for inclusion had doubtful status in English – cumbersome Latinate forms such as cubiculary and incompossibility, for example
 

  • Some of his definitions became famous for their impenetrability, such as cough “A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity”

 

  • Johnson's etymologies would be considered poor by modern standards

 

  • He gave little guide to pronunciation; one example being cough “It is pronounced coff”

 
 

  • It was also linguistically conservative, advocating traditional spellings, for example olde

 

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A HISTORY OF ENGLISH DICTIONARIES

  First English Dictionaries

  A Table Alphabeticall

  Dictionaries as Models of Standard

  Samuel Johnson's Project

  Johnson's Dictionary

  Johnson’s Talent for Definitions

  Johnson’s Shortcomings

  Johnson’s Achievements 

MODERN ENGLISH

  The "Ink-horn" Controversy 

  Humour & Pathos in Shakespeare

  Biblical Phrases Test

  British vs. American English

  More

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