Noah Webster Would Have Made a Great Tech Writer

On October 16, we celebrate Dictionary Day, honoring the birthday of Noah Webster, who essentially created the American English dictionary. But if Webster were alive today, you probably wouldn’t find him writing poetry or tweeting hot takes about Oxford commas. No, you’d find him hunched over a style guide, rewriting a company’s onboarding documentation for clarity and consistency.

Because the truth is, Noah Webster would’ve made an outstanding technical writer.

Let’s explore why the man who gave us “color” instead of “colour” (you’re welcome, spellcheck) embodies the best traits of today’s technical communicators — and what we can still learn from his approach to words.

He Was Obsessed with Clarity

Webster believed that language should be clear, consistent, and accessible, writing that “diffused uniformity and purity of language in America [will] destroy provincial prejudices.” Sound familiar? That’s the cornerstone of technical writing.

• He streamlined spellings to remove ambiguity (“center” over “centre”)
• He simplified grammar rules to make them easier to teach and learn
• He insisted that language evolve to reflect how people actually speak and work

Technical writers follow the same philosophy. We eliminate jargon. We define terms. We write so humans (not just experts) can understand the subject.

If you’ve ever explained an application programming interface (API) to a marketing manager or written a troubleshooting guide for a non-technical audience, you’ve channeled your inner Webster.

He Created a Standard and Defended It

Webster didn’t just write a dictionary. He built a language system. His 1828 An American Dictionary of the English Language included over 70,000 entries and emphasized American usage over British tradition. The dictionary focused not just on definitions, but also on standardization.

In modern terms? He created a style guide.

Technical writers do the same:

• Define terms and preferred phrasing
• Enforce consistency across teams, platforms, and documents
• Ensure that content governance isn’t a guessing game

Without standards, documentation turns into a free-for-all. With standards, you get predictable, scalable communication. Webster would approve.

He Knew Words Shape Experience

Webster believed that language wasn’t neutral. The words we choose influence how people think, act, and learn.

That’s a core principle in instructional design, UX writing, and technical communication. Whether you’re creating training content, writing tooltips, or designing onboarding flows, the language must do more than inform. It must guide.

Imagine Webster writing a tooltip for a “Delete All” button:

“Permanently remove all selected files. This action cannot be undone.”

Succinct, clear, no drama. Now imagine that same message with no technical writer:

“Click to remove items, if that’s what you want to do. This may affect stuff. Good luck.”

Words matter.

What Today’s Technical Writers Can Learn from Webster

1. Write for the user, not the linguist. Webster modernized English to fit how Americans spoke, not how elites wanted them to speak.
2. Own the glossary. Technical writers should be the stewards of internal language. If a team has six terms for the same thing, it’s time to Webster it.
3. Stand up for standards. Style guides aren’t optional, they’re what makes documentation sustainable and scalable.
4. Keep learning. Webster studied 26 languages to better understand English. Technical writers who learn about their users’ tools, roles, and frustrations write better content.

Final Thoughts: Dictionaries Are Documentation

Webster wasn’t just a word nerd. He was a knowledge manager, instructional designer, and editor-in-chief of American English. His legacy reminds us that words build bridges between people and information. That’s what technical writers do every day.

So, this Dictionary Day, take a moment to appreciate your team’s style guide, glossary, and that one technical writer who knows exactly why “click here” is frowned upon.

Because behind every good dictionary – and every great user guide – is someone who cared enough to write it right.

Related Blogs

The Great Oxford Comma Debate: Should You Use It or Not?

Editing & Proofreading Made Easy: The Power of Polished Content

Polish, Proof, and Perfect: The Best Grammar and Proofreading Tools for Writers  

References

Haveles, Kayla. “Noah Webster’s American English.” Past Is Present. 2/5/14. Accessed 9/3/25. https://pastispresent.org/2014/good-sources/noah-websters-american-english 

“Noah Webster and America’s First Dictionary.” Merriam-Webster. Accessed 9/3/25. https://www.merriam-webster.com/about-us/americas-first-dictionary 

“Notable Quotations.” American Dictionary of the English Language. Accessed 9/3/25. https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Quotes 

Pearson, Ellen Holmes. “The Standardization of American English.” Teaching History. Accessed 9/3/25. https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25489