Here is a real treat for word lovers: 3,100 selections from Dr. Johnson's historic dictionary, with definitions, etymologies and usage illustrations. To buss is charmingly defined as""To kiss; to ...

In his "Dictionary of the English Language," Samuel Johnson defined “lexicographer” as “a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge.” **novel: a) a piece of writing of some length with something wrong ...

It took roughly eight years for Samuel Johnson and his staff of six helpers to complete the Dictionary of the English Language, published on April 15, 1755. The work soon established itself as one of ...

He was, according to his biographer James Boswell, a huge man. When he was barely out of infancy, he contracted scrofula, a disease that severely impaired his eyesight and left his face horribly ...

Ian Redford is playing legendary lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson in Max Stafford-Clark’s Out of Joint production A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson at the Arts Theatre. Here he reveals how he became ...

JOHNSON’S DICTIONARY, A MODERN SELECTION (465 pp.)—E. L. McAdam Jr. and George Milne—Pantheon ($6.50). Anyone who has ever used pen and ink (“the black liquor with which men write”) has cause to be ...

WE are apt to think of this great book as the work of a pious, not overclean old scholar, much given to talk and tea, and somewhat too fond of abusing people. It will come, therefore, as a surprise to ...