Samuel Johnson was “one of the most important English writers of the eighteenth
century” (Lynch). He wrote everything from poetry to sermons, and most
importantly, he wrote a dictionary (Johnson Society of London). His dictionary
was not the first dictionary ever written, but it had a great effect upon the
English language.
Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 in Lichfield, England (Lynch). He was the son of
a bookseller (“Merriam-Webster’s Word for the Wise”). In 1728, he went to
Pembroke College at Oxford, but he ran out of money after only thirteen months
(Lynch). He taught school at the age of 26 (Weekley 20). He supported himself by
writing from the ages of 28 to 53 (Johnson Society of London). He has been
called “the greatest lexicographer of them all” (Bryson 152). He is “the single
most quoted prose writer in the English language in most dictionaries of
quotations” (Lynch). Johnson died in 1784 (Bryson 152).
Samuel Johnson’s dictionary was published in 1755. Before this dictionary was
published, dictionaries focused solely on “very difficult words” (Burgess).
Johnson’s dictionary, on the other hand, had over 43,000 words and around
120,000 illustrative quotations (“Merriam-Webster’s Word for the Wise”). It was
the first dictionary to use illustrative quotations (Sledd and Kolb 41). Johnson
worked on the dictionary for about 7 years (Baugh and Cable 270). The French
Academy, on the other hand, took 40 years to write their dictionary (Bryson
154).
Johnson’s dictionary is obviously the work of a highly prejudiced and unique man
since it is “full of personality” (Weekley 16). The dictionary “remains
fascinating” (Andreae). Johnson was not afraid to admit he didn’t know something
as is shown by the definition for etch “A country word, of which I know not the
meaning” as well as one of the quotations given for cream: “To take the flower
and quintessence of any thing: so used somewhere by Swift” (Johnson). Some of
the most famous of his definitions are the ones for oats, patron, Whig and Tory,
excise, and pension.
The most famous of Johnson’s definitions is the definition for oats. It shows
his dislike of the Scottish people (Andreae). Oats: “A grain which in England is
generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people” (Johnson).
The definition for patron is another famous definition in Johnson’s dictionary.
As Johnson began working on the dictionary, he asked Lord Chesterfield to be his
patron and help him to pay for the cost. Lord Chesterfield offered a measly ten
pounds, so Johnson financed the dictionary himself (“Merriam-Webster’s Word for
the Wise”). The definition for patron was as follows: “One who countenances,
supports, or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is
paid with flattery” (Johnson). After it was clear that the dictionary would be a
success, Lord Chesterfield made an offer of help to Johnson. In response,
Johnson wrote Chesterfield a letter saying,
Is not a patron…one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the
water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help? The notice which
you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind;
but is has been delayed…till I am known, and do not want it. (“Merriam-Webster’s
Word for the Wise”).
Johnson was a firm Tory, which can be seen from his definitions of Whig and
Tory. Whig: “The name of a faction” (Johnson). Tory: “One who adheres to the
antient [sic] constitution of the state, and the apostolical [sic] hierarchy of
the church of England, opposed to a Whig” (Johnson).
The excise tax had just come into being when Johnson wrote his dictionary. Also,
Johnson’s father had problems with the tax (McAdam and Milne xi). Therefore,
excise is defined as: “A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not
by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is
paid” (Johnson).
Johnson spurned the pensions given by the government (even though he eventually
received one) (Burgess). He defined them as “An allowance made to anyone without
an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a
state hireling for treason to his country” (Johnson).
One funny story that is told about Johnson and his dictionary is about a woman
who approached him after the dictionary was complete and congratulated him on
his omission of all indecent words from the dictionary. Johnson’s reply was “So
you’ve been looking for them, Madam?” (Weekley 17). An interesting note is that
the word “to fart” is included in the dictionary: “To break wind behind, As when
we a gun discharge” (Johnson).
Since the publication of Johnson’s dictionary, our language has been constantly
changing. Johnson recognized this and wrote: “No dictionary of a living tongue
can ever be perfect, since while it is hastening to publication, some words are
budding, and some are fading away” (Bryson 151-152). Bryson goes on to say
“That, however, has never stopped anyone from trying, not least Johnson himself”
(152).
Some of the words Johnson defines that are no longer in use today are didder,
churme, indigitate, padder, sord, eigh, enodation, extendedlessness, lipwisdom,
and gleek. Didder: “To quake with cold; to shiver” (Johnson). Churme: “A
confused sound; a noise” (Johnson). Indigitate: “To point out; to flow”
(Johnson). Padder: “A robber; a foot highwayman” (Johnson). Sord: “Turf; grassy
ground” (Johnson). Eigh: “An expression of sudden delight” (Johnson). Enodation:
“The act of untying a knot; Solution of a difficulty” (Johnson).
Extendedlessness: “Unlimited extension” (Johnson). Lipwisdom: “Wisdom in talk
without practice” (Johnson). Gleek: “Music or musician” (Johnson).
Some common words for which the definition has greatly changed across time are
wife, jogger, and dishwasher. Wife: “A woman of low employment” (Johnson).
Jogger: “One who moves heavily and dully” (Johnson). Dishwasher: “The name of a
bird” (Johnson).
Some words that are not in common use today, but are still in a current
dictionary are foretop and duple. Their definitions have changed as well.
Johnson’s definition of foretop was: “That part of a woman’s headdress that is
forward, or the top of the periwig.” The current definition for foretop is: “the
platform at the head of a ship’s foremast” (Merriam-Webster). Johnson’s
definition for duple was: “Double; one repeated.” The current definition for
duple is: “having two elements” (Merriam-Webster).
Some words that have remained the same over the years are customer, nonsense,
rich, wink, and discipline. Johnson defined customer as: “One who frequents any
place of sale for the sake of purchasing”. The current definition for customer
is “one that purchases a commodity or service” (Merriam-Webster). Johnson
defined nonsense as: “Unmeaning or ungrammatical language.” The current
definition for nonsense is: “words or language having no meaning or conveying no
intelligible ideas” (Merriam-Webster). Johnson defined rich as: “Wealthy;
abounding in wealth; abounding in money or possessions; opulent.” The current
definition for rich is: “having abundant possessions and especially material
wealth” (Merriam-Webster). Johnson defined wink as: “To shut the eyes.” The
current definition for wink is: “to shut one eye briefly as a signal or in
teasing; to close and open the eyelids quickly” (Merriam-Webster). Johnson
defined discipline as: “Education; instruction; the act of cultivating the mind;
the act of forming the manners.” The current definition for discipline is:
“training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental facilities or moral
character” (Merriam-Webster).
The effects of Johnson’s dictionary were numerous. Many associate him with
fixing spelling, even though it was mostly established by the time he wrote his
dictionary (Baugh and Cable 213). His dictionary was regarded for over one
hundred years as “the world’s finest English dictionary” (Harp ix). When, one
hundred years later, Joseph Worcester wrote a dictionary of his own, he
acknowledged Johnson’s dictionary as “a standard for the language” (Sledd and
Kolb 139).
Johnson’s dictionary was used for many years for educational purposes. The
British poet Robert Browning supposedly educated himself by reading Johnson’s
dictionary (Harp ix-x). Johnson himself realized that his dictionary could be
used for education, so he originally planned to include 230,000 quotations, but
only half of them could be included due to lack of space (Harp xix). Reading the
dictionary is no longer seen as a means of education. Samuel Barrett, in an
e-mail, laments this fact: “It seems to me that since we view a dictionary as
merely a place to look up a word, we have neglected the study of [Johnson’s]
dictionary, using the OED or Webster instead, but we are the losers for that.”
Samuel Johnson and his dictionary had a great impact on the English language we
speak today. His dictionary, written in 1755, was not the first dictionary ever
written, but it was the first that tried to define every word, and the first to
be widely used by his contemporaries. The dictionary was seen as a great
authority for many years, and was even used for educational purposes. Today, it
is a largely unknown and unread work of literature.
Works Cited
Andreae, Christopher. “Dr. Johnson’s Book Needs Another Look.” Christian Science
Monitor 93.227 (2001). 13 Nov 2001 <http://ehostvgw11.epnet.com… >.
Barrett, Samuel. “S J.” E-mail to the author. 27 Nov. 2001.
Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language. 3rd ed.
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Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. New York:
William
Morrow, 1990.
Burgess, Anthony. “The Dictionary Makers.” Wilson Quarterly 17.3 (1993). 15 Nov
2001 <http://ehostvgw3.epnet.com… >.
Harp, Richard L. Introduction. Dr. Johnson’s Critical Vocabulary: A Selection
From
His Dictionary. By Samuel Johnson. Maryland: University Press of America,
1986. ix-xlv.
Johnson, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language. London: Times Books,
1983.
“The Johnson Society of London: Samuel Johnson – A Select Bibliography.” May
2000. The Johnson Society of London. 20 Nov 2001 <http://www.nbbl.demon.co.uk/JSL7.html
>.
Lynch, Jack. “Who is this Johnson Guy?” Guide to Samuel Johnson. 20 Nov 2001
<http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Johnson/Guide/who.html >.“
McAdam, E. L. Jr., and George Milne. Introduction. Johnson’s Dictionary: A
Modern
Selection. By Samuel Johnson. New York: Random House, 1963. vii-xiii.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 1998 ed.
“Merriam-Webster’s Word for the Wise: Script for September 18, 1997.” Word for
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Wise Transcripts. 1997. Merriam-Webster. 15 Nov 2001 <http://www.m-w.com/mw/textonly/wftw/97sept/91897.htm >.
Sledd, James H., and Gwin J. Kolb. Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary: Essays in the
Biography
of a Book. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1955.
Weekley, Ernest. “On Dictionaries.” Dictionaries and That Dictionary: A Casebook
on the Aims of Lexicographers and the Targets of Reviewers. Ed. James Sledd
and Wilma R. Ebbitt. United States of America: Scott, Foresman and Company,
1962. 9-21.
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