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Subject:RE: The Oxford English Dictionary From:"Keith Soltys" <keith -at- soltys -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 Aug 2001 11:18:55 -0400
>
> That said, the OED in any edition can be fascinating if you're of the
> right mind. It's one of history's great works of scholarship, with at
> least one citation (the earliest known) for every recorded use of a
> word. It's also the closest thing to a definitive guide to the English
> language - not because it lays any claim to authority (on the whole,it
> tends to be purely descriptive), but simply because it is so complete.
>
> For me, the biggest problem is not getting totally sidetracked when I
> open a volume; most of the time, when I open it to track down one word,
> the next thing I know a couple of hours have passed and I still haven't
> got around to my original query. Definitely a dangerous asset.
>
> --
> Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
>
>
This brings to mind one of my favourite books for getting side-tracked in:
Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. As far as I know the last
edition was in 1994, but it's still available; I found a copy in Indigo
Books last year and snapped it up, after having not seen a copy in five
years.
This is a book that you can really get lost in if you like reading about
words and how they are used. It's not as comprehensive a resource as the OED
but it's certainly useful. Those of you who like having your reference works
online should look for a copy of Infopedia 2, it's out of print but I've
seen it in bargain bins for $10 quite recently. It has the Merriam Websters
Collegiate Dicitonary, the Merriam Websters Dictionary of English Usage and
several other reference works on one CD. I've set mine up on my hard drive
using a drive emulator that maps the CD image to a drive letter - it's a
very useful tool.
Regards
Keith
--
Keith Soltys
keith -at- soltys -dot- ca
Host of "Internet Resources for Technical Communicators" since 1994
Now at http://www.soltys.ca/techcomm.html
Out of work and looking for a job or contract in Toronto
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