--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every dictionary contains a world. I open…" description: "\"“Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of thieves’ slang from Queen Anne’s reign and they have a hundred words for swords, for wenches, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/mark-forsyth-19782_books_every-dictionary-contains-a-world-i-open_13123.jpg" --- # Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of… ![“Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of thieves’ slang from Queen Anne’s reign and they have a hundred words for swords, for wenches, and for being hanged. They did no die, they danced on nothing. Then I peek into any one of my rural Victorian dictionaries, compiled by a lonely…” quote by Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/mark-forsyth-19782_books_every-dictionary-contains-a-world-i-open_13123.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/mark-forsyth-19782_books_every-dictionary-contains-a-world-i-open_13123.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/mark-forsyth-19782_books_every-dictionary-contains-a-world-i-open_13123.jpg) > ““Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of thieves’ slang from Queen Anne’s reign and they have a hundred words for swords, for wenches, and for being hanged. They did no die, they danced on nothing. Then I peek into any one of my rural Victorian dictionaries, compiled by a lonely clergyman, with words for coppices, thickets, lanes, diseases of horses and innumerable terms for kinds of eel. They gave names to the things of their lives, and their lives are collected in these dictionaries – every detail and joke and belief. I have their worlds piled up on my desk.”” [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language encodes the lived experience of a culture; dictionaries preserve the minutiae of daily life, revealing values, occupations, and social attitudes of a time period. **In simple terms:** Dictionaries are cultural time capsules. Key Takeaway Words map a society’s reality. Themes language culture history social class lexicography Mood curiosity nostalgia scholarly intrigue Type observational reflective When to use this quote - studying historical slang - researching rural life - analyzing social hierarchies - examining occupational vocabularies Key Concepts semantic mapping historical linguistics sociolinguistics cultural anthropology Practical Applications - building period‑accurate narratives - informing cultural heritage projects Questions to Reflect On - How do the words a people use shape our perception of their world? - What does the presence or absence of certain terms tell us about societal priorities? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dictionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionaries/) [Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionary/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Instead of collecting stamps, he collected dictionaries and encyclopaedias:\] Because you can learn more from them. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/instead-of-collecting-stamps-he-collected-dictionaries-and/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) > [People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/people-are-under-the-impression-that-dictionaries-legislate-language/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [To make dictionaries is dull work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-make-dictionaries-is-dull-work/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Dictionaries are like vitamins and floss; we buy them and then never use them. Even I, an English teacher, a lover of words, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/dictionaries-are-like-vitamins-and-floss-we-buy-them-and-then-never/) [Jenny Baranick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-baranick/) > [“Telephone books are, like dictionaries, already out of date the moment they are printed…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ammon-shea/telephone-books-are-like-dictionaries-already-out-of-date-the-moment/) [Ammon Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ammon-shea/) > [Lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/lexicographer-a-writer-of-dictionaries-a-harmless-drudge-that-busies/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Dictionaries stop where the heart starts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foenkinos/dictionaries-stop-where-the-heart-starts/) [David Foenkinos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foenkinos/) > [“Wake up to think of words… want to walk through pages of meanings, the links in assonance, alliteration, or just simple sense that moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/initially-no/wake-up-to-think-of-words-want-to-walk-through-pages-of-meanings-the/) Initially NO > [I am not learning definitions as established in even the latest dictionaries. I am not a dictionary-maker. I am a person a dictionary-maker has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/i-am-not-learning-definitions-as-established-in-even-the-latest/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [“Dictionary, n. A malevolent literacy device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/dictionary-n-a-malevolent-literacy-device-for-cramping-the-growth-of/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Dictionaries are always fun, but not always reassuring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-k-fisher-3/dictionaries-are-always-fun-but-not-always-reassuring/) M F K Fisher > [“In this case, consulting the dictionary would simply mean discovering what one already knew, Dictionaries only provide information that is likely to be useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/in-this-case-consulting-the-dictionary-would-simply-mean-discovering/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [My desk is like a 'U,' so I have my computer and lots of dictionaries because I write in Spanish and I live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/my-desk-is-like-a-u-so-i-have-my-computer-and-lots-of-dictionaries/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“Tugs used to think that everyone's name was in the dictionary, and when she had realized it was only hers, both Tugs and Button,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ylvisaker/tugs-used-to-think-that-everyone-s-name-was-in-the-dictionary-and/) [Anne Ylvisaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ylvisaker/) > [Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to-help-people-organize-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## More by Mark Forsyth > [“Pot itself has nothing to do with pots and pans, but comes from the Mexican-Spanish word potiguaya, which means marijuana leaves. And marijuana is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/pot-itself-has-nothing-to-do-with-pots-and-pans-but-comes-from-the/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“I had to go outside. I had to let the element of chance in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/i-had-to-go-outside-i-had-to-let-the-element-of-chance-in/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it was the sausage-maker who disposed of the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-was-the-sausage-maker-who/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [Poetry is much more important than the truth, and, if you don't believe that, try using the two methods to get laid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/poetry-is-much-more-important-than-the-truth-and-if-you-don-t-believe/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [ “Wouldst like to con a glimmer with me this early black?’, which he \[Cab Calloway\] helpfully explains as ‘the proper way to ask a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/wouldst-like-to-con-a-glimmer-with-me-this-early-black-which-he-cab/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Love is nothing because those who do something for the love of it do it for nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/love-is-nothing-because-those-who-do-something-for-the-love-of-it-do/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Wamblecropt is the most exquisite word in the English language. Say it. Each syllable is intolerably beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/wamblecropt-is-the-most-exquisite-word-in-the-english-language-say-it/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Shakespeare was not a genius. He was, without the distant shadow of a doubt, the most wonderful writer who ever breathed. But not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/shakespeare-was-not-a-genius-he-was-without-the-distant-shadow-of-a/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“The glamour's off. Almost any question you ask can be answered. It's only the questions that you didn't know to ask that remain, dancing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/the-glamour-s-off-almost-any-question-you-ask-can-be-answered-it-s/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“There's always a strange feeling you get when you come across one particular line by chance. It feels somehow significant. That's irrational of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/there-s-always-a-strange-feeling-you-get-when-you-come-across-one/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Oxygen was called flammable air for a while, but it didn't catch on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/oxygen-was-called-flammable-air-for-a-while-but-it-didn-t-catch-on/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [But Shakespeare never drank coffee. Nor did Julius Caesar, or Socrates. Alexander the Great conquered half the world without even a café latte to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/but-shakespeare-never-drank-coffee-nor-did-julius-caesar-or-socrates/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [If you are to use Alexander Graham Bell’s product, which is to say the blower, you should, in all courtesy, use it as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/if-you-are-to-use-alexander-graham-bell-s-product-which-is-to-say-the/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“It is, incidentally, a favour that e-books have done for the Good Bookshop: they have made books beautiful again. A few years ago, book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/it-is-incidentally-a-favour-that-e-books-have-done-for-the-good/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [So familiar are eggs to us, however, that in the eighteenth century they were referred to as cackling farts, on the basis that chickens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/so-familiar-are-eggs-to-us-however-that-in-the-eighteenth-century/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) [Explore all 32 Mark Forsyth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of thieves’ slang from Queen Anne’s reign and they have a hundred words for swords, for wenches, and for being hanged. They did no die, they danced on nothing. Then I peek into any one of my rural Victorian dictionaries, compiled by a lonely clergyman, with words for coppices, thickets, lanes, diseases of horses and innumerable terms for kinds of eel. 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