dutchmen

Jesse Sheidlower jester at PANIX.COM
Fri Jun 9 14:39:06 UTC 2006


On Fri, Jun 09, 2006 at 10:28:05AM -0400, George Thompson wrote:
>
> Also, with reference to Bill Mullins' recent poting "If it's not in
> the dictionary, it must not be a word":
> Looking in Proquest's NYTimes files for something else, I stumbled on
> this: "GETTING INTO THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY; Every New Word Must Pass
> an Inquisition to be Admitted to the Select 500,000."  By F.A. AUSTIN.
> New York Times, June 3, 1923. S[unday] Magazine] p. 11
> In addition to the text, there is a fine illustration of some words
> grovelling abjectly at the feet of a lexicographer, hoping that he
> will benignly smile upon them and admit them to his dictionary.  (At
> first glance I thought the lexicographer bore a striking resemblance
> to our Jesse Sheidlower, but it must be co-incidental; he probably
> wasn't that well known in the field in 1923.)

Nonetheless, this is the best illustration I've ever seen, and I
am mounting it on my door right now.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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