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by Cheryl Miller
Most homes have at least one dictionary and many have more. It was only in
the 17th century that the first true English dictionary appeared. Throughout the
16th century, collections of words were printed usually without definition as
simple glossaries and as a step towards the standardization of spelling.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “dictionary” first entered
the English language in 1526.
What is considered by many scholars to be the first English dictionary was
published in 1604 by Robert Cawdrey and entitled – A Table Alphateticall,
conteyning and teaching the true writing and understanding of hard usuall
English wordes, borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine, or French & C. This
dictionary had no defined words that began with J, K, U, W, X or Y and had
around 3,000 entries, mostly one-word synonyms in its 120 pages.
It was Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary that set the standard for future English
dictionaries and standardized the spelling of numerous words. On June 18, 1746 a
consortium of London booksellers signed a contract with Johnson to create a new
English dictionary. In the following year, Johnson produced a work called The
Plan of an English Dictionary. He wrote that he “endeavored to discover and
promulgate the decrees of custom, who has so long possessed whether by right or
by usurpation, the sovereignty of words.” He believed he could complete the task
in three years. However, his plan was soon modified as the gravity of the work
began to become apparent. The work actually took almost nine years. He worked
with six men on the project, he selected the words and had the men transcribe
the illustrative quotes, taking words from works dating from the late 16th
century.
When completed, Johnson’s 1755 dictionary contained more than 115,000
illustrated quotes to show each of the 43,500 words’ usages and history. It
became the authority on the English language.
Yet the work was not without flaws, faults and prejudices. Examples of Johnson’s
prejudice show in his famous definition of oats – “A grain which in England is
generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people.” And
sonnet was defined as a “short poem consisting of fourteen lines .. it is not
very suitable to the English language.”
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Copy a page (using cardstock) out of your dictionary that
conveys what you are trying to say in the card. For this particular card, I
copied the word “love.” Use a tag punch (a must have!) and punch the word
out. Attach a brad onto the top of the tag – this brad will prevent the tag
from falling into the card.
The image is an advertising card. Use mounting squares on the four
corners and on the bottom. If the tag was wider or thicker, I would
recommend using brads in the top corners to firmly adhere the image onto the
card. Insert your tag into the top of the card.
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| On the inside of the card I placed an advertising card featuring a
glove. Using an exacto knife, I sliced on the side of two of the fingers on
the glove. The following quote was mounted onto black paper to slip through
the two fingers and a brad was placed near the top of the glove for
stability:
This is just to let you know
How special your gift made me feel.
It shows me how very thoughtful you are;
Your gift to me was ideal!
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