tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412935501814538464.post8581591294414228210..comments2020-10-03T02:05:13.271-04:00Comments on Branches and Rain: An American Dictionary of the English LanguageBretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09389916070547430075noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412935501814538464.post-21016769982622168412009-09-30T01:24:46.890-04:002009-09-30T01:24:46.890-04:00That's funny, Steerforth! I hadn't though...That's funny, Steerforth! I hadn't thought about it, but it's obvious. For "ready reference" we generally use the American Heritage Unabridged, but I am grateful that, as a librarian, I have access to a set of the OED.<br /><br />I was amazed, once, to find in Edmund Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender, the phrase, "My sheep done bin wasted". "Done been" is still a common usage in the American South.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09389916070547430075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412935501814538464.post-25427154072766614072009-09-29T15:28:34.954-04:002009-09-29T15:28:34.954-04:00Over here, the Webster's is naturally regarded...Over here, the Webster's is naturally regarded as the Great Satan of dictionaries: "How dare these colonial upstarts alter the English language!"<br /><br />These sentiments are uttered by people who are blissfully unaware that 'American' words like <i>lonesome</i> are pure Shakespearian English.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.com