From The Economist:
Happy birthday to Johnson's dictionary
IT DOESN'T look a day over 250. April 15th marks the 260th anniversary of the publication of the great dictionary written by Samuel Johnson, the eponym of this column. Johnson’s dictionary was rightly celebrated as a great work of scholarship. And a few of his definitions are also celebrated for their wit: a lexicographer is “a harmless drudge”, oats a grain that "in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people”.
But this Johnson is a bigger fan, perhaps, of Johnson’s preface, which — unlike the entries in the dictionary itself — can be enjoyed in a short sitting, and which provides a window into an agile English mind. He opens with the theme of the drudge—“humble”, as well as “harmless”—who can hardly win at the occupation he has chosen. A good lexicographer can only “escape reproach”, whereas a bad one will be “exposed to censure” and “disgraced by miscarriage”. The lexicographer is a bit like the referee in sport: a bad call will be on the nightly news with the referee’s name in bold at the bottom. A good call is soon forgotten.
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