Ink Pen by Phil Dunlap for December 30, 2010

There may be a Webster’s 10th New Collegiate out by this point, but I got mine (new) in the mid-90’s. It’s the one they issued my at my job, and I still have the same copy. Of course, it’s at my desk at work and I’m at home now, so I can’t check the copyright date. But it’s legit.

The only dictionary I have at home is the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (4th ed.). It’s not the same as the official Scrabble word list, because it gives a (brief) definition for each word, as well as the spelling. However, it contains no words longer than eight letters. Actually, this volume, too, is published by Merriam-Webster…

(And freeholder, I figured that the “seven words you can’t say on television” is commonly understood to be Carlin’s, and needed no attribution, any more than “Who’s on First” needs attribution to Abbott and Costello, or references to dead parrots need attribution to Monty Python. Particularly since I didn’t enumerate them, I don’t think I can be accused of trying to pass the idea off as my own.)