Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why did Samuel Johnson believe that a dictionary could not permanently fix the English language?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Painting of Samuel Johnson showing Johnson seated at a desk with a quill in hand and papers before him, wearing a brown coat and white wig. — Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson, oil on canvas by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Although Samuel Johnson initially hoped that his Dictionary of the English Language would "fix" the English language, he eventually recognized that such an expectation was unjustified by both reason and experience.1

Johnson concluded that a dictionary could not permanently stabilize or preserve a language because "language is the work of man, of a being from whom permanence and stability cannot be derived". He realized that languages are not static entities that follow rigid prescriptions; rather, they are dynamic and continually changing. Consequently, Johnson accepted that he could not halt linguistic evolution, noting that at most, he could only hope to curb the "lust for innovation".23