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THESE are excerpts from the new edition of Webster's New International Dictionary, published last week by G. & C. Merriam Co. (see EDUCATION). In offering new definitions, the new edition makes important use of phrases quoted from widely diverse sources, the quotation being chosen "primarily for its contribution to an understanding of meaning." The eleven phrases quoted above are from TIME-a sampling of more than 100 instances in which the new dictionary uses TIME as a source...
...Waukegan, Ill., which already boasted Thomas Jefferson Junior High and Daniel Webster Junior High, the board of education this week will dedicate a third junior high school, named for still another illustrious figure out of the U.S. past: Jack Benny, 67. who dropped out of Waukegan High as a 16-year-old sophomore...
...definitions to be laws that would firmly establish meanings. But usage thumbs its nose at laws; the dictionary nowadays is more a Social Register of words than a Supreme Court of language. In the 27 years since the G. & C. Merriam Co. published the Second Edition of its unabridged Webster's New International Dictionary, thousands of new words have clamored to be listed. Last week, after investing $3,500,000 and 757 "editor-years," Merriam responded with a brand-new edition ($47.50 and up). It is the most radical version yet of the nation's most famous dictionary...
...Merriam Co. is the only direct descendant, corporately speaking, of Noah Webster,* who in 1828 produced the first truly American dictionary, which in its 70,000 listings stressed the New World's lusty new words, from applesauce to skunk. The descendants have never matched Noah's style, clarity and wit. He was a practical man given to phonetic spelling (ake, crum, skreen). He was a feeling man given to personalizing his definitions: "All sin is hateful in the sight of God and of good men." Or: "In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal...
...Webster Parish, La., Negro Joe Kirk tried unsuccessfully four times to register. On his fourth try, the registrar invoked a proposed Louisiana law-which was not really passed until five months later-disqualifying parents of illegitimate children. Testified Kirk at a commission hearing: "She asked did I have any illegitimate children. I said, 'Not as I knows of. If I has, I hasn't been accused of.' She says, 'You are a damned liar.' I just smiled; I could still give the smile. Then she said, 'I know you were going to tell...