Review of Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus (Hardcover)

Perhaps I will end up buying the Oxford English Reference Dictionary at some point, but presently, this Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus 1st Ed is great.I don't care about slang or computer definitions in my dictionary, English has always been English, and while American may be different in spelling, it is still English.Internet, blog, PCMCIA, ARP, .NET, Mono, etc... is in computer books, which is where it should be.I don't expect my dictionary to have the recipe for Rice Balls or the proper pronunciation of this common variation of a Japanese dish, now perhaps coming towards being cross-cultural.I expect that information to be in a cookbook.

However, in words, it's wonderful.Why?That's easy; I believe it's because it had 'anfractuosity' as well as the minimum of 3 decent definitions for 'numinous'.This was the smallest dictionary I could find that had all the words in the Prologue of 'The Problem of Pain' by CS Lewis.Any dictionary that can match words with the vocabulary that CS Lewis expressed is all that I need.

Some other thoughts... I've been reading dictionary reviews for 20 minutes, and I think there are too many people that are trying to get subject specific with their dictionaries.Dictionaries should be ENGLISH specific.It's all this slang, idioms, and subject specific vocabulary that has dropped my vocabulary to sad terms.Between that application, and the genuine desire of individuals around the world to give the wrong definition to words such as feminine, it's no wonder the young are becoming less educated while spending more time in school.

New English... There is no such thing.English is English.It's been essentially the same for much longer than I've been alive.

Still, you should definitely get a dictionary of slang and idioms.It's good to know what people are saying in a specific region/country.





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Review of The American Heritage® College Dictionary, Fourth Edition Deluxe [DELUXE EDITION] (Hardcover)

BACKGROUND
I purchased this dictionary based on my experience with two older H-M dictionaries: the H-M Canadian Dictionary from 1982 and the American Heritage 3rd edition; for the most part I prefer the former.

APPEARANCE
I anticipate that anyone who first holds this beautiful example of book making will be as delighted as I was. From the deep red linen cover with its gold lettering, to layout of the entries, to the crisp resolution of both text and images, this dictionary is drop dead gorgeous. Similarly, its size and weight make it both comfortable and satisfying to hold.

CONTENTS
The amount of words is excellent for its size, thanks to H-M's choice of Minion as the body font (one of my favorites!). The definitions are clear and the etymologies are throrough. Usage notes, synonomy paragraphs and the like all add to the richness of browsing through this dictionary; that combined with the visual presentation of the entries and the addition of photos make this a very pleasant dictionary to browse through. In other words, it invites one to explore its pages, as opposed to just being used as a reference for when you want to look up a word.

EXTRAS
Other nice features which expand on the dictionary's encyclopedic character are the addition of several charts and tables, as well as some fascinating appendicies on the Indo-European roots of English and other languages.

SUMMARY
This is a dictionary for those who love to explore the riches of our language. It has ample entries, whose meanings, pronunciations and etymologies are all clearly articulated, as well as being (arguably) the most beautiful dictionary available today. Highly recommended.



Click Here to see more reviews about: The American Heritage® College Dictionary, Fourth Edition Deluxe [DELUXE EDITION] (Hardcover)