Short Stuff: Is It Theater or Theatre?

The Blue-Backed Speller, originally titled 'The First Part of the Grammatical Institution of the English Language,' was later known as 'The American Spelling Book' and 'The Elementary Spelling Book. ' It was designed to be simple and systematic, starting with the alphabet and progressing through vowels, consonants, syllables, words, and sentences. Webster introduced a phonetic approach to spelling, simplifying American English by eliminating unnecessary letters and promoting distinct American pronunciations. The book included patriotic and moral content to instill national identity and virtue in American students. It became incredibly popular, selling millions of copies over its numerous editions and influencing American education and language profoundly.

Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is a seminal work by Noah Webster, published when he was 70 years old. It contains 70,000 entries and was the first serious articulation of American English as distinct from British English. The dictionary is based extensively on the King James Version of the Bible and reflects the values and language of the early nineteenth century. It is a valuable reference tool for understanding the founding documents of the United States and other important texts from that period. The modern compact edition preserves all the words, definitions, and examples while omitting some explanatory content to save space.