十一、But What the dictionary 。。.docx

But Whats a Dictionary For? Bergen Evans? ?　　 The storm of abuse in the popular press that greeted the appearance of Websters Third New International Dictionary is a curious phenomenon. Never has a scholarly work of this stature been attacked with such unbridled fury and contempt. An article in the Atlantic viewed it as a disappointment, a shock, a calamity , a scandal and a disaster. The New York Times, in a special editorial, felt that the work would accelerate the deterioration of the language and sternly accused the editors of betraying a public trust. The Journal of the American Bar Association saw the publication as deplorable , a flagrant example of lexicographic irresponsibility, a serious blow to the cause of good English. Life called it a non-word deluge monstrous , abominable , and a cause for dismay. They doubted that Lincoln could have modelled his Gettysburg Address on it – a concept of how things get written that throws very little light on Lincoln but a great deal on Life.　　What underlies all this sound and fury? Is the claim of the G. R C. Merriam Company, probably the worlds greatest dictionary maker, that the preparation of the work cost $3.5 million, that it required the efforts of three hundred scholar s over a period of twenty – seven years, working on the largest collection of citations ever assembled in any language -- is all this a fraud, a hoax ?　　So monstrous a discrepancy in evaluation requires us to examine basic principles. Just whats a dictionary for? What does it propose to do? What does the common reader go to a dictionary to find? What has the purchaser of a dictionary a right to expect for his money?　　Before we look at basic principles, it is necessary to interpose two brief statements. The first of these is that a dictionary is concerned with words. Some dictionaries give various kinds of other useful information. Some have tables of weights and measures on the flyleaves . Some list historical events and some, home remedies