Samuel Johnson, the great lexicographer, posed it through his character Rasselas in his novel Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, published in 1759.

Samuel Johnson, the great lexicographer, posed it through his character Rasselas in his novel Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, published in 1759.

Now one of the perks of being a lexicographer besides getting to come to TED is that you get to say really fun words,

Now one of the perks of being a lexicographer besides getting to come to TED is that you get to say really fun words, like lexicographical.

Now, one of the non perks of being a lexicographer is that people don't usually have a kind of warm, fuzzy, snuggly image of the dictionary.

Is the beloved paper dictionary doomed to extinction? In this infectiously exuberant talk, leading lexicographer Erin McKean looks at the many ways today's print dictionary is poised for transformation.