the DICTIONARY

i have a growing interest in dictionaries. a couple of years ago i read part of a book that was about the author collecting dictionaries, it piqued my interest and i soon after started collecting dictionaries as well. there is so much information packed into those pages, information that i have long sought after and relied upon. (interestingly, i picked up my dictionary as i started this post and i already "sought" some information, i was a little unsure of my spelling of sought!) well, i won't bore you with too many details, i just wanted to explain a process that is growing more and more important to me: it all started because my friend Brad has a definition of "ART" and i don't. so once while at the library i thought i would make an attempt to define "ART" using a dictionary to aid me. this was my process: (i'm sorry for misuse of punctuation, i like certain marks and tend to overinclude them!) i started by thinking of a word that i thought came close to defining "ART" and then moved from there like this
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contradiction - a combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another. the statement of a position opposite to one already made.
statement - a definite or clear expression of something in speach or writing
oppose - disapprove of, resist, or be hostile to. compete with or fight
make - form by putting parts together or combining substances. alter something so it forms (something else).
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from there i moved to the definition of "ART"
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art - the expression or application of creative skill and imagination, especially through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture.
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now, it is a fun thing about dictionaries that these definitions are all quite different from the definitions that i discovered when i looked last, because i am using a very different dictionary this time (it is "Concise Oxford English Dictionary", last time i was using Websters). the reason i wanted to share all this with you is that i am using the dictionary more and more as a reference point in making things i make... i hope that this inspires you to pick up a book of definitions (the real thing, not dictionary.com. real books have something on dictionary.com, but that is probably just me being romantic and prefering not to use computers.
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romance - a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.