[Ads-l] In the beginning was a dictionary

[Joel Berson]

"In the Judeo-Christian tradition, even God submits to our chutzpah and brings to the brand-new Adam all the creatures he has made to see how Adam would define them. 'And whatsoever Adam called every living creature,' Genesis tells us, 'that was the name thereof.' In the beginning was a dictionary."

>From a review by Alberto Manguel of "You Could Look it Up: The Reference Shelf from Ancient Babylon to Wikipedia", by Jack Lynch, in the New York Times Book Review of Sunday, March 6.

Joel

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