There has always been a dictionary at the front of the library--a big, heavy one that sits all regal-like on a table top podium. It’s a Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, so it measures a healthy 4” thick, and an estimated ten pounds. There isn’t a clear publication date, but in the front of every Webster’s the presidents are listed, and the last sitting president on there is George W., which would put it somewhere between ‘01 and ‘09. So, it’s a little out of date.
This year, we got a new one, complete with the totally necessary new additions, such as glamping and hangry. We are a society currently obsessed with what linguists call portmanteau--this particular way of blending words--which actually originated with our old pal Humpty Dumpty (Lewis Carroll). Who knew.
We also seem to be obsessed with acronyms. I think we have the internet to thank for that; typing full words has become too cumbersome when perusing Instagram. A new acronym has made it into Webster’s since W. was in office: TL;DR. I wasn’t familiar with this one. It stands for too long; didn’t read, because we needed a more “official” way to disregard other people.
But the real reason we needed a new dictionary is because the one we replaced wasn’t in great shape anymore. It was a little grubby, what we might call well-loved. And strangely, there were a couple pages that were particularly well-loved, the only ones that were torn and nearly falling out: the pages between front and fuji. Hmm… Strange indeed…
-Signing off, Schoolyard Eagle Eye