Noah Webster would have been 250 years old yesterday. Webster is the American lexicographer behind what is now Merriam-Webster's dictionaries. Coincidentally, that company has a new learner's dictionary on the market. I haven't had a chance to have a good look at it, but there's also a
free online edition which you can try out yourself.
I understand that Webster was an intolerable bastard as a person, but his work has undoubtedly been of enormous value. It was Webster who almost single-handedly established what we now recognise as American English. Hey, we are lucky we don't need to talk to him in person; we can just enjoy what he has left.
ReplyDeleteI hope the new learner's dictionary from MW lives up to the man's legacy. It looks to me like a fine dictionary which may fill the gap in the market where British dictionaries have been dominant. But then, will it outsell LDCE or OALD? - I don't know; I suspect not. I wonder what others might think?