Dictionary Quotes

Gratitude is a useless word. You will find it in the dictionary but not in life.

Lexicographer, n. A pestilent fellow who, under the pretense of recording some particular stage in the development of a language, does what he can to arrest its growth, stiffen its flexibility and mechanize its methods. For your lexicographer, having written his dictionary, comes to be considered “as one having authority,” whereas his function is only […]

Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This (my) dictionary, however, is a most useful work.

It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories, put together well after the languages they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature.