Event Details 

Fun with the Dictionary
Bar bets, Scrabble fights, or the Dictionary Game: The dictionary has long been the answer, but the so-called “answer-for-everything” book has a long
and surprising history we can explore through interactive exercises and discussion. The dictionary has also been a source of conflict over racial slurs,
proper usage, spelling and related matters. Various dictionaries disagree on all these issues. To understand why, we will visit with dictionary creators
Samuel Johnson and Daniel Webster, review the development of the ultimate dictionary (the OED), and see what happens when the dictionary goes online in
contemporary times.  Alice Horning is retired from Oakland U where she taught linguistics and writing for more than 30 years.