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Samuel Johnson's dictionary still a page-turner 250 years on

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From: AP Worldstream
Date: 20050421
Author:JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
04-21-2005
Dateline: LONDON
It began with "a," ended with "zootomy" and revolutionized the way English-speakers think about their language.

Samuel Johnson's "Dictionary of the English Language," published 250 years ago this month, was not the first English dictionary. But it was the first to mix workable, if sometimes idiosyncratic, definitions with illustrative quotations _ more than 100,000 of them _ showing the words in use.

"It was the first good dictionary of the English language," said Henry Hitchings, author of "Dr. Johnson's ...

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