Thank you, Mr. Webster
by Rosalind Foley on 10/10/12
Uncertain of the spelling of a word in the manuscript I was editing, I went to the computer for confirmation. With a few taps of the keys I had my answer. There it was, the word, the definition, the pronunciation, plain and straightforward. Why then, did something about the sterility of it make me sad?
I realized with regret that most cyber-natives will never know the satisfaction of turning soft pages full of information till they find the word they're seeking. There were whole worlds to discover in those old books, and drawings on almost every page.
If we asked our mother about a word, she sent us to the dictionary. One word invariably led to another or an illustration might catch our eye, launching another quest. It wasn't a bad way to learn.
