Selections from Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary: “D”

Edited by Dan Leo, LL.D., Associate Professor of Lost Languages, Assistant Blackjack Coach, Olney Community College; author of Bozzie and Dr. Sam: The Case of the Hanged Hangman (the Olney Community College Press).

Illustrated by rhoda penmarq. A penmarq productions™ production.

“One may rest well assured that the phrase ‘a penmarq production™’is the hallmark of quality.” – Horace P. Sternwall, author and motivational speaker, host of The Horace P. Sternwall Showcase Theatre, Tuesdays at 9pm EST, exclusively on the Dumont Television Network. 

to begin selections from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, click here

for previous selection from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, click here

to begin at the beginning of Boswell's Life of Johnson, click here

for previous chapter of Boswell's Life of Johnson, click here

Dab. A small lump of any thing. Dabbler. One that meddles without mastery; one that never goes to the bottom of an affair; a superficial meddler. Daddy. The child's way of expressing father. “I was never so bethumpt with words, Since first I call'd my brother's father dad.” – Shakespeare. King John. Daw. The name of a bird. “I will wear my heart upon my sleeve, For daws to pick it.” – Shakespeare. Othello. Death. The extinction of life; the departure of the soul from the body. “Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” Shakespeare. Julius Caesar. Debacchation. A raging; a madness. Debarb. To deprive of his beard. Debullition. A bubbling or seething over. Decacuminated. Having the top cut off. Demonocracy. The power of the devil. Depauperate. To make poor; to impoverish; to consume. Dingle. A hollow between hills; a dale. “I know each lane, and every alley green, Dingle or bushy dell of this wild wood; And every bosky bourn from side to side, My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood.” – Milton. Drum. An instrument of military musick, consisting of vellum strained over a broad hoop on each side, and beaten with sticks. “Let's march without the noise of threat'ning drums.” – Shakespeare. Dubitation. The act of doubting; doubt. “Many of the ancients denied the antipodes; but the experience of our enlarged navigation can now assert them beyond all dubitation.” Brown's Vulgar Errours. Dyspepsy. A difficulty of digestion, or bad fermentation in the stomach or guts. Dysury. A difficulty in making urine. (We will resume our serialization of Boswell’s Life of Johnson next week. This project is sponsored in part by Bob’s Bowery Bar™, at the corner of Bleecker and the Bowery: “A haven of beery and smoky dimness amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life. Try the house ‘cellar-brewed’ bock, which goes remarkably well with ‘Bob’s home-cured beef tongue’ sandwich on Jewish rye, served with ‘Bob’s Mom’s' horseradish sauce.” – The New Yorker.) "E"