Noah Webster, the dictionary guy, was a spokesmodel for Federalists like Washington and Adams. He was, in the natural course of things, loudly denounced by Jeffersonian Republicans as "a pusillanimous, half-begotten, self-dubbed patriot", "an incurable lunatic", and "a deceitful newsmonger ... Pedagogue and Quack”. This brings to mind Twain’s line that “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” Webster believed American values were superior to European ones, that our way of life offered citizens the best possibilities for advancement (unless, of course, you were Black, female or Catholic). In his dictionary, he used simplified spellings that diverged from British English - color for colour and center for centre, but Shakespeare used those very spellings in the First Folio. I have a metaphorical dog in this fight, if only a little one.
© 2024 John Oliver
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