Philology

In 1857, a proposal was presented for the creation of the predecessor of the grand old dame of dictionaries, the Oxford English Dictionary, which, if you are not a former or present English major or English Professor, is the most comprehensive dictionary in the world. The proposal was presented at the Philological Society in London. Only the English would care enough to want to combine all of the extant dictionaries into one uber-dictionary. Only the English would have a 'Philological Society.' Certainly, only the English would treat the subject with the anal respect that the people involved in the creation of this dictionary treated the subject.

Of course, as was depicted in a recent book, it was not beneath these guys to hire someone in an insane asylum, a former American soldier, turned homocidal maniac, to work on the project. And of course it took seventy years to complete. And they were quite pleased with his work.

What would it say about a person if that person has an unabridged Oxford English dictionary in their home? First of all, they have got to be fairly wealthy, because the damn thing is expensive. Secondly, it would help to be rather muscular and stout, since each volume is a heavy piece of scholarship in itself. Thirdly, it might help to be a real dilletante, since you would probably have to be one if you felt it important enough to buy a multi-volume dictionary.

I suppose if you find one in a library it probably says that your library is well-stockedm which provides quite an excuse for its location therein.

I don't look words up as much as I probably need to and I am afraid my vocabulary is rather on the shallow side. I have the obnoxious habit of using the word 'thing' to describe things for which I can't find an apropriate wordand lapsing into cliches, but if you have read many of my blogs, you probably know that.

Shakespeare had an incredible vocabulary and this is one of the reasons why some scholars think the Shakespearean canon was written by someone else, since your average Tudor actor from a little backwater town like Stratford-upon-Avon wouldn't have the education necessary to write like he did. There is a little bit of educational snootiness about that attitude. I recognize that. I have probably fallen prey to that myself from time to time. I don't know enough about the subject to opine either way.

The light of day is waning, despite the return to regular time. We have had our extra hour, now the slow revolution of the earth around the sun is taking care of the rest of our sunlight. We are getting farther and farther away from the sun. I suppose we won't get flung out into the universe. Physics is a wonderful thing. Thank God for the mechanism of the universe.