Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington: dictionary

Saturday, 8 May 2010

Twitter's Dr Johnson To Publish Dictionary

There can be no doubt of Dr Samuel Johnson's great achievement with his Dictionary: an astonishing work of scholarship that transformed our language. Now, after a hiatus of over 250 years, I am pleased to reveal that our favourite lexicographer has been putting the finishing touches to a brand new dictionary called Dr Johnson's Dictionary of Modern Life. The result of much painful labour at his home in Gough Square, the book will accompany Dr Johnson's popular Twitter feed and promises to address 'Divers Contemporary Phenomena, from Top Gear Unto Twitter'. I do not know as yet when this work will be released to the public, but I feel sure that it will meet with your warmest approbation.

Enquire at Amazon Booksellers for further details.

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Monday, 14 September 2009

Wordia

Dr Johnson would certainly have been interested in the site Wordia (pictured above) which invites people from all walks of life to think of a word that has special meaning to them, talk about it on video and have it uploaded into the 'visual dictionary'.

Tomorrow Dr Nicholas Cambridge - the Chairman of the Johnson Society of London and a former GP - will be talking about the word scrofula. You can leave comments on individual definitions or even link to uses of the word on Twitter (I'd venture to suggest that only Dr Johnson himself is liable to be tweeting about scrofula, but you never know).

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Who was Mrs Woffington?

Virtually forgotten today, Margaret Woffington (also known as Peg or Peggy) would rise from humble origins to become one of Georgian London’s most famous actresses, sharing the stage with the likes of David Garrick and excelling in so-called ‘breeches roles’. Born around the year 1720 in Dublin, her childhood years were marred by the death of her father, which plunged her family into poverty. Having reputedly sold watercress barefoot in the streets of the Irish capital, she was soon talent-spotted by a tumbler known as Violante, who staged populist entertainments in booths around the city. Violante had a troupe of child actors called the Liliputians, and before long Woffington was making her debut as Polly Peachum in their version of The Beggar’s Opera. Moving to London, she gained plaudits for both her outstanding beauty and her talent – particularly in comedy – appearing at both Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Known for her quick wit and no-nonsense attitude, she had high-profile affairs with Garrick, Lord Darnley and Charles Hanbury Williams; she was also a generous benefactor, supporting her elderly mother and may even have endowed some almshouses in Teddington, where she had settled at the height of her success. She died, unmarried, in 1760, having suffered a long wasting illness, and is buried in Teddington's parish church of St Mary’s.

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