Dictionaries Have Been Inspiring Political Debates for Longer Than You Probably Think

This post is in partnership with the History News Network, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. A version of the article below was originally published at HNN.

Are dictionaries getting more political? That’s what some people claim. When Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster.com post Twitter lists of trending lookups that include such politically charged items as dotard, witch hunt and dog whistle, it looks to some like presidential trolling.

This post is in partnership with the History News Network, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. A version of the article below was originally published at HNN. Are dictionaries getting more political? That’s what some people claim. When Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster.com post Twitter lists of trending lookups that include such politically charged items as dotard, witch hunt and dog whistle, it looks to some like presidential trolling.