Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Open source English dictionary?

Author:Chuck Shotton
Posted:1/31/1999; 5:16:53 AM
Topic:Open source English dictionary?
Msg #:2604 (In response to 2595)
Prev/Next:2603 / 2605

Why not take a page out of the distributed encryption cracking crowd's book? Build a site that lets a user ask for a word. Your site can cough up a word out of one of the public domain lists for which there isn't a definition yet. The user can then type in the definition (preferably paraphrasing some authoritative source) and after 500,000 hits, Voila! a true GPL dictionary. Not some cheesy word list, but a real dictionary with definitions, pronounciations, etc.

Hey, if 50,000 of the Scripting News readers volunteered to take a word a day, we'd be finished before Valentine's Day!

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