Monday's Google Doodle is an ode to English lexicographer Samuel Johnson
Light the candles, word nerds: It's lexicographer Samuel Johnson's 308th birthday.
In celebration, Monday's Google Doodle honors Johnson, known best as writer of A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755.
Image: google
According to Humanities, Johnson was not the first lexicographer, nor the first to record definitions, but he was the first to craft a dictionary that sought to standardize the English language— to create a set of rules to which writers and speakers could adhere.
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And, as the Encyclopædia Brittanica notes, his dictionary is remembered for the detail and clarity of its definitions in comparison to previous attempts from other writers.
Per Brittanica:
In short, A Dictionary of the English Language was known for being the greatest in its class— the iPhone in a sea of BlackBerry smartphones.
After all, best, not first is a popular business philosophy for a reason.
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