Noah Webster Jr. (1758 – 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author.
In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. The next year, Webster began two decades of intensive work to expand his publication into a fully comprehensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. To help him trace the etymology of words, Webster learned 26 languages. Webster hoped to standardize American speech because people in different parts of the country used different vocabularies and spelled, pronounced, and used words differently.
Webster completed his dictionary in 1825, during a year in Paris. It contained 70,000 words, 12,000 of which had never appeared in a dictionary before. He believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced American-English spellings (Color for Colour). He also added American words that did not appear in any British dictionaries. In 1828, Webster published his dictionary; it sold poorly, with only 2,500 copies. He went in debt. The second edition published in 1840 in two volumes was a success.
In 1843, after Webster’s death, George Merriam and Charles Merriam secured publishing and revision rights to the 1840 edition of the dictionary. In 1982 the company officially changed its name from C. & G. Merriam to Merriam-Webster Inc. to draw attention to its ties to Noah Webster.
The Merriam-Webster editorial board acts as the arbiter of correct American-English, deciding which words and spellings are included in the dictionary; a process that has not been free from controversy. When the 1961 edition was publishes, The Atlantic Monthly called it “a calamity”, and The New York Times accused the publisher of “betraying the public trust” and “lowering the standards of language”. The editors at Merriam-Webster insist that dictionaries should not dictate the development of language but accept its natural evolution and record its actual use.
The good folks at Merriam-Webster 2021 update included some terms brought to prominence, by COVID-19, including the word COVID-19 itself, which has the distinction of becoming a dictionary entry more quickly than any other word, just 34 days. Peter Sokolowski editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster:
“People say, ‘How long does it take for a word to get into the dictionary?’ Could be six or 10 or 60 years, it depends, but it was always measured in years until now.”
The virus continues to look for hosts, and it continues to transform our world and our language. A few notable additions are new meanings relating specifically to the pandemic:
Long Hauler: a person who experiences one or more long-term effects following initial improvement or recovery from a serious illness.
Pod and Bubble: a small group of people who regularly interact closely with one another but with few or no others to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection during an outbreak of a contagious disease.
Wet Market: a market that sells live animals which are often slaughtered on-site.
Terms for identity continue to grow, including serious terms of self-identification, plus terms used more playfully. Added to the dictionary this year:
BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Folx: used to explicitly signal the inclusion of groups that are usually marginalized.
Sapiosexual: a sexual attraction to highly intelligent people.
Silver Fox: an attractive older man with gray or white hair.
My own favorite new entry is Don’t @ Me: to respond to, challenge, or disparage the claim or opinion of someone.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words in papers, words in books
Words on TV, words for crooks
Words of comfort, words of peace
Words to make the fighting cease
Words to tell you what to do
Words are working hard for you
Eat your words but don’t go hungry
Words have always nearly hung me
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words of nuance, words of skill
And words of romance are a thrill
Words are stupid, words are fun
Words can put you on the run
Mots pressez, mots sensez
Mots qui disent la vit?
Mots maudits, mots mentis
Mots qui manquent le fruit d’ésprit
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
It’s a rap race, with a fast pace
Concrete words, abstract words
Crazy words and lying words
Hazy words and dying words
Words of faith, tell me straight
Rare words and swear words
Good words and bad words
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words can make you pay and pay
Four-letter words I cannot say
Panty, toilet, dirty devil
Words are trouble, words are subtle
Words of anger, words of hate
Words over here, words out there
In the air and everywhere
Words of wisdom, words of strife
Words that write the book I like
Words won’t find a right solution
To the planet Earth’s pollution
Say the right word, make a million
Words are like a certain person
Who can’t say what they mean
Don’t mean what they say
A rap rap here and a rap rap there
Here rap, there rap
Everywhere a rap rap
Rap it up for the common good
Let us enlist the neighborhood
It’s okay, I’ve over stood
This is a wordy rapping hood, okay, bye!
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words
He don’t stop
He don’t stop
He don’t stop
Don’t stop!
1981, Weymouth, Frantz, Stanley
