Photo/Illutration The Oxford English Dictionary (AP Photo)

When groaning and struggling to write a column, I cannot live without a dictionary at my side.

But that was apparently not the case with William Shakespeare (1564-1616). In Shakespeare’s lifetime in Britain, there was no such thing as a dictionary as we know it today.

A project to compile a dictionary containing every word of the English language was launched in the 19th century, resulting in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

The work this entailed was mind-boggling. For every word, its usages had to be validated by a plethora of examples collected from the classics and other sources.

When help was sought from the public, a mystery man began sending 100 neatly written cards every month.

In what turned out to be a bizarre but true story, he was an inmate at a mental hospital and a murderer, as recounted by British author Simon Winchester in “The Professor and the Madman.”

The first volume of the OED, the entries of which were from “A” to “Ant,” was published on Feb. 1, 1884. It had taken 26 years to accomplish this feat.

And it took another 40 years to complete the entire OED.

A dictionary cannot be compiled without steady effort and passion. This fact remains true today.

And so long as languages are alive, every dictionary remains an unfinished work forever.

In the Kojien Japanese dictionary, for example, the word “enjo” (literally, “aflame”) used to be defined as, “To burst into flames ... especially as in a building catching fire and burning.”

But a new definition, which has been added to the latest edition, states it is also, “A post on an internet site receiving many harshly critical or slanderous responses.”

In the revision, the Kojien editors are said to have reviewed and discussed anew the meaning of some 6,000 words as for verbs alone. I bow my head in admiration.

While grunting and writing this column, the dictionary by my side looks different from before.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 2

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.