Ignorant is too harsh: 13 grammatical mistakes that instantly reveal people's ignorance

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133. I blame it on the Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961)!

When the First Edition of Webster's New International Dictionary (1909) was produced, the editorial board was attempting to codify correct spelling and usage of words which included correct grammar.

The Webster’s New International Dictionary (second edition, 1934) continued that intention.When the Third Edition was being developed, the scholars made a change in philosophy. Rather than deciding which usage was more "correct" they provided definitions in the order of most common usage and introduced new usage and new words into their lists. Part of this choice was determined by the feeling that "correct" English usage was already covered in the Second Edition of 1934 so that edition was (and is still) considered to be definitive for classic English grammar.

The Third Edition, on the other hand, was used to demonstrate how the language had evolved. I was in Library Science School in the early 1970s and that edition was still extremely controversial. The professor I had for Reference recommended that any library that had the room and the budget should keep both editions out for the use of their patrons.

Permissiveness
In the early 1960s, Webster's Third came under attack for its "permissiveness" and its failure to tell people what proper English was. It was the opening shot in the culture wars, as conservatives detected yet another symbol of the permissiveness of society as a whole and the decline of authority, as represented by the Second Edition.[8] As historian Herbert Morton explained, "Webster's Second was more than respected. It was accepted as the ultimate authority on meaning and usage and its preeminence was virtually unchallenged in the United States. It did not provoke controversies, it settled them." Critics charged that the [Webster's Third] dictionary was reluctant to defend standard English, for example entirely eliminating the labels "colloquial", "correct", "incorrect", "proper", "improper", "erroneous", "humorous", "jocular", "poetic", and "contemptuous", among others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Third_New_International_Dictionary#Permissiveness

Over the past thirty years the pace at which language has evolved has accelerated - to the point that a printed dictionary could not be expected to keep up. An advantage for the internet is that many sources can be referenced and vast quantities of information cross-referenced easily, something that could only bee dreamed about when I was studying references back in the day.

As an example, Wikitionary can not only keep up with the most current usages and definitions, it can also provide scans of the pages from the 1913 edition of Webster's New International Dictionary for people to consult: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Webster_1913

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Dictionary#Webster.27s_New_International_Dictionary_1909
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Third_New_International_Dictionary