A Dictionary Was Also a Set of Judgments
Samuel Johnson’s 1755 dictionary did more than explain what words meant. By choosing which words to include—and how to label them—he helped signal which forms of English counted as respectable. Leaving out “bang,” which he regarded as low or unscholarly, made that judgment visible through absence rather than through a definition.
Why One Word Could Matter
A dictionary has limited space and must make choices, but those choices can look like rules. Readers may treat an omitted word as improper, even when people use it in ordinary conversation. In Johnson’s case, the distinction between learned language and everyday speech shaped what readers could find on the page.
That does not mean a dictionary can stop people from speaking a word. It can, however, give one kind of English more authority than another. The episode shows how a reference book can both record language and rank it: what gets left out can carry a judgment too.
