This 1812 Webster's definition of a house cat is insulting to house cats everywhere, even if it may be accurate - Boing Boing - Dictionary

The first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828.

"It has been my aim in this work, now offered to my fellow citizens, to ascertain the true principles of the language, in its orthography and structure; to purify it from some palpable errors, and reduce the number of its anomalies, thus giving it more regularity and consistency of forms, both of words and sentences; and in this manner, to furnish a standard of our vernacular tongue," Webster wrote in the preface.

To immerse yourself in ye olde vernacular, simply look up any word in this digital edition of that 1818 dictionary. Times have changed, but apparently cats have not. Here is the definition of "cat" from the American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828:

"The domestic cat needs no description. It is a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful. It is kept in houses, chiefly for the purpose of catching rats and mice."

Previously:
• My cats go nuts for this YouTube channel
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