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Who Wrote Dictionaries? A Monumental Mission and the World's Greatest Lexicographers

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  Writing a dictionary can seem humanly impossible if one looks at the size, volume and information that goes into one. However, a few men dedicated their entire lives to this work. James Murray: Author: Oxford English Dictionary James Murray, a Scottish school teacher wrote the first Oxford English Dictionary. The work began in 1879 and at that time, the dictionary was named, New English Dictionary. Five years into the task, Murray to his desperation realized he was still circling the alphabet ‘a’ and had only reached up to the word, 'ant'. He had a dedicated team of assistants to help him in the work. Murray also made a public call of assistance for volunteers to send him quotes that would help identify rare words and their usage. He received great help from many known and unknown volunteers who set themselves to this work. The volume of mail that went to Murray and his team and back was so huge that the local post office set up a special mailbox near his working shed, which ...
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