Whither the Dictionary?

"My project was to document the ambitious reinvention of a classic, and I hoped to get some definitions of my own into the lexicon along the way. (A favorite early drafting effort, which I couldn't believe wasn't already included, was dogpile : "a celebration in which participants dive on top of each other immediately after a victory.") Merriam-Webster's overhaul of its signature work, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged -a 465,000-word, 2,700-page, 13.5-pound doorstop published in 1961 and never before updated-was already in full swing."

"Page views were declining for Merriam-Webster.com, the company's free, ad-driven revenue engine: Tweaks to Google's algorithms had punished Merriam's search results. The company had always been lean and profitable, but the financial hit was real. Merriam's parent, Encyclopedia Britannica, was facing challenges of its own-who needed an encyclopedia in a Wikipedia world?-and ordered cuts. Merriam laid off more than a dozen staffers. Its longtime publisher, John Morse, was forced into early retirement. The revision of Merriam's unabridged masterpiece was abandoned."

"Call it the paradox of the modern dictionary. We're in a golden age for the study and appreciation of words-a time of "meta awareness" of language, as one lexicographer put it to me. Dictionaries are more accessible than ever, available on your laptop or phone. More people use them than ever, and dictionary publishers now possess the digital wherewithal to closely track that use. Podcasts, newsletters, and Words of the Year have popularized neologisms, etymologies, and usage trends."

In 2015 a project began at Merriam-Webster to reinvent its unabridged dictionary as an online-only subscription, replacing the 1961 hardback. The planned revision of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged was extensive and expected to take decades. Declining page views and changes to Google's search algorithms reduced ad-driven revenue, prompting Encyclopedia Britannica to demand cuts. Merriam-Webster laid off staff, its longtime publisher left, and the unabridged revision was abandoned. At the same time, public interest in words has grown, with greater accessibility, analytics-driven usage tracking, and popular channels promoting neologisms and etymologies.

Read at The Atlantic