If a word in the dictionary were mispelled, how would we know?

quote by Steven Wright
Added by Lucian Velea
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Webster's American Spellings

One spelling was English established.
Webster's Dictionary spells it incorrect?
Noah Webster in the early 19th century...

busily composed comprehensive dictionaries.
Numerous unrelated dictionaries added
Webster's name to share prestige established.

Oh bother Webster's first dictionary
‘A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language'
aired first appeared in 1806 was hexed?

With American spellings it was freely littered?
Spelling honor not honour center not centre.
Webster's program not programme spread what?

Two decades of his spelling confusions expanded?
An ‘American Dictionary of the English Language'
in 1828 lead in 1841 to his edition revised expanded?

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.

quote by Edwin Conklin
Added by Lucian Velea
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A Desire To Know Deep Meanings

Dictionary!

My Dictionary!

Raise it high in your right hand!

We shall use it
we shall use it to explore
to seek out...

the meaning of words
the meaning behind words
the multiple hidden meaning of life.

Amen.

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Dictionaries are always fun, but not always reassuring.

quote by M.F.K. Fisher
Added by Lucian Velea
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Dr Samuel Johnson's Dictionary Masterpiece

June 1746 deeply dissatisfied
with the dictionaries of the period
London booksellers contracted

Dr Samuel Johnson to write
'A Dictionary of the English Language'
15 April 1755 finally published.

Johnson took nine years to create
an authoritative dictionary of the English language
could finish in three years he claimed?

Preposterous Académie Française employed;
in comparison over forty learned scholars
spending needing forty years to complete;

its dictionary in the French language.
Forty Frenchmen times forty years
is not nine but 1600 years to complete.

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poem by Terence George Craddock
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I've been 6'4'' since I was 12. Goofy is somewhere in the lexicon.

quote by Jason Segel
Added by Lucian Velea
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Your Dictionary

H-a-t-e
Is that how you spell love in your dictionary
K-i-c-k
Pronounced as kind
F-u-c-k
Is that how you spell friend in your dictionary
Black on black
A guidebook for the blind
Well now that I can see my eyes wont weep
Now that I can hear your song sounds cheap
Now that I can talk all your corn Ill reap
Im not so sure that joey wed a virgin mary
There are no words for me inside your dictionary
S-l-a-p
Is that how you spell kiss in your dictionary
C-o-l-d
Pronounced as care
S-h-i-t
Is that how you spelt me in your dictionary
Four-eyed fool

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song performed by Xtc
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So Young

In the misery dictionary
Page after page after page
In the misery dictionary
Page after page
Where theres life theres gotta be hope
And where theres a will theres a way
One mans in is anothers out
I gotta get out today
Where theres life theres gotta be hope
And where theres a will theres a way
Amid divisions youre so low
You know I gotta get out today
In the misery dictionary
Page after page after page
In the misery dictionary
Page after page
And where theres a will theres a way

song performed by Stone Roses
Added by Lucian Velea
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Japan Minus Frogs

For Guy de la Valdène

Looking casually
through my English–Japanese dictionary
I can't find the word frog.
It's not there.
Does that mean that Japan has no frogs?

poem by Richard Brautigan (4 June 1976)
Added by Dan Costinaş
1 comment - Comment! | Vote! | Copy! | In Spanish | In Romanian

The entities

A sentence is of words,
All borrowed from the dictionary.
Yet it has a soul
Unfound in the dictionary.
All are made of five elements;
Yet each has an entity.
06.02.2005

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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I put a Phrygian cap on the old dictionary.

quote by Victor Hugo
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Miss Beautiful

Beautiful is an underword to describe you,
Oh poor english, give me more words,
Dont envy me you lexicon,
I need words with virtue and weight,
Every lexicon I have opened,
Should I call her marvellous,
Well I am more than marvelling,
Should I call her beautiful,
She is not equal to others,
Since the lexicon cant give me more,
I will call her my miss beautiful

If beauty was a contest,
I bet she is winning,
Her smile, posture and eyes,
In others, I found it not
My miss beautiful,
Holding you in my arms,
Telling you, you are beautiful,
I denounce English,

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poem by Gaylord Munemo
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So Young

In the misery dictionary
Page after page after page
In the misery dictionary
Page after page

Where there's life there's gotta be hope
And where there's a will there's a way
One man's in is another's out
I gotta get out today

Where there's life there's gotta be hope
And where there's a will there's a way
Amid divisions you're so low
You know I gotta get out today

In the misery dictionary
Page after page after page
In the misery dictionary
Page after page

[...] Read more

song performed by The Stone Roses from Garage Flower
Added by Lucian Velea
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The word impossible is not in my dictionary.

quote by Napoleon Bonaparte
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Who Wonders About Spellings?

who wonders about spellings?
judgement made and judgment passed
a word application flags judgement

as an incorrect spelling
but a rolling stone gathers no moss
search the word online

a kiwi familiar with both
British and American spellings
instantly searches in mind

both judgement and judgment
occur with seemingly equal frequency
one English the other American?

Dictionary English
Dictionary American
Program setting in computer?

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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12d3

Im 2d
Wont you buy me
Piano chord
Dictionary
One two d three
One two d three
One two d three
One two d three
Mmm (x8)
One two d three
One two d three
One two d three
One two d three
Im 2d (one two d three)
Wont you buy me (one two d three)
Piano chord (one two d three)
Dictionary (one two d three)
One two d three
Im 2d (one two d three)
Wont you buy me (one two d three)

[...] Read more

song performed by Gorillaz
Added by Lucian Velea
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Don't hate the word, playa; hate the dictionary.

quote by Brian Celio
Added by Lucian Velea
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Nature is a dictionary; one draws words from it.

quote by Eugene Delacroix
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Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.

quote by Samuel Johnson
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