He currently works as an independent lexicographer, editor, and researcher, and has contributed to the Oxford English Dictionary, New Oxford American Dictionary, and the Oxford American College Dictionary. ![]() “The journals are a fascinating record of American English at the time of the greatest expansion in U.S. For example, the word “mere” used to mean “absolute, downright.” Accordingly, in 1768, George Washington wrote in his diary that “it blew a mere Hurricane.” Meriwether Lewis followed the same connotation when he recorded, “a violent storm arrose…the rain fell in a mere torrent.” Yet in modern language, the sense of the word has evolved from “nothing less than,” to “nothing more than.” The lexicon also includes many words that were adopted from the French and Native American languages. ![]() In addition, the lexicon explains words for which the definitions have now changed. ![]() What is a cataplasm, and what do you do with one? Would you be insulted if someone called you, “argillaceous?” Would you want someone to give you a clyster? Would you eat wappato? What does it mean when a canoe flacks? These are all words that were familiar to Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their companions, and were penned in their journals, but are less commonly used and understood today.
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