A great Tory, to be precise: the incomparable Samuel Johnson. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of his Dictionary.

Reader Debby Witt reminds me of some gems from that work.

I am not yet so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven. Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas: I wish, however, that the instrument might be less apt to decay, and that signs might be permanent, like the things which they denote.
– Dr. Samuel Johnson
(A Dictionary of the English Language,
preface)
Buffoon – A man whose profession is to make sport, by low jests and antick postures; a jackpudding.
Excise – A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.
Lexicographer – A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.
Network – Anything reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.
Oats – A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
Patron – One who countenances, supports, or protects. Commonly,
a wretch who supports with insolence and is paid in flattery.*
Pension – Pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.
Whore – A woman who converses unlawfully with men; a fornica-
tress; an adultress; a strumpet.