杏吧原创

Dictionaries started with Dr Johnson鈥檚 and we now have the Oxford English
Dictionary and there鈥檚 the Collins one and Webster鈥檚 in the US. Right? Not
quite. Chasing the Sun (Jonathan Cape, 拢25, ISBN 0 224 04010 3) by
Jonathon Green shows dictionarial history goes back to the Sumerian, is rife
with political manoeuvring, dissension 鈥攁nd bias: Chambers鈥� Twentieth
Century Dictionary defines 鈥渘oose鈥� as 鈥渁 snare or bond generally, esp. hanging
or marriage鈥�. There is action, too. Johnson barricading his house to keep out an
enraged unpaid milkman is one of many scenes that increase the book鈥檚
beguilement.