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dictionaries, grammar, spelling, language use, and slang

dictionaries, grammar, spelling, language use, and slang

A History of Dictionaries

October 3, 2011 by Roy Johnson

compilation, theory, use, and language change

A History of Dictionaries is a brief account of how the recording of language has changed over time. Many people believe that except in terms of size, all dictionaries are more or less the same. But in fact they vary according to who compiles them, when they are compiled, and what purpose they are designed to serve. Lynda Mugglestone’s study of the history and techniques of creating dictionaries deals with what information can be presented in printed form and the difficulties of choice for accuracy and efficiency in covering the spelling of a word, its pronunciation, stress, etymology, and use in various contexts. The challenge of squashing all this into a small space is the reason why dictionaries are printed in narrow double columns, usually in a small font size.

A History of DictionariesSome people want a dictionary to offer guidance on acceptable usage and notions of grammatical correctness. But the current trend towards descriptive approaches to use (what is, rather than what should be) confounds these expectations. It also has the knock-on effect of meaning that new dictionaries are required at an increasing rate, to keep up with changes in language use.

The earliest dictionaries (from 2000 BC onwards) were not necessarily organised alphabetically, but in themes or topics – and were primarily used as explanations of ‘difficult’ words used in religious documents – not as repositories of language in common speech and writing.

And the first dictionaries in English were largely explanations in English and French of Latin terms – because all three languages in the early period of Renaissance Britain were in use at the same time for different purposes – religion, political administration, and commerce. In fact multi-language dictionaries were the norm at that time.

The Dutch writer Noel de Berlaimont’s Vocabulare would, for instance, become a topically organised work in four languages (French, Flemish, Latin, and Spanish) by 1551, and six languages by 1576 when English and German were added.

Any mono-lingual dictionaries that existed were compiled solely in order to explain unusual terms or words which people found difficulty in understanding. Indeed, the idea that a dictionary should include all words in common use is a relatively recent development from the nineteenth century – and almost all dictionaries still exclude the words most commonly in use – swear words.

Next Mugglestone considers how a dictionary is made – the whole range of questions about what is to be included and how it is to be shown on the page (or screen). She examines the work of possibly the world’s best known lexicographer, Samuel Johnson, revealing both his very subjective choices and the strength of his method in choosing quotations from printed sources as his supportive evidence.

More recently, the use of computers working on corpora (huge databases of language in current use) mean that dictionary compilation is far less subjective, can include both the spoken and the written word in their source material, and most importantly can include word definitions decided by the actual context in which they are used:

This also throws up what she calls the etymological fallacy, which is the mistaken notion that a word’s meaning is principally determined by its origins. But alternative (which comes from the Latin ‘the other one of two’) can now mean any one of a number of options. The same applies to media used as a singular grammatical concept.

I was glad to see that she touches on issues of political correctness and the ideology of dictionary compilation. This covers not only archaic definitions such as that for canoe – ‘a kind of boat in use among uncivilized nations … Most savages use paddles instead of oars’, and loaded definitions such as Christmas – ‘The day on which the nativity of our blessed Saviour is celebrated’.

Following the logic of her own historical trajectory, she concludes by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the (apparently) ultimately democratic dictionaries – Wiktionary and Urban Dictionary. The latter is strong on innovation and slang, the former is more traditional. Both are free – but they have not displaced printed versions – for which the demand continues unabated.

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© Roy Johnson 2011


Lynda Mugglestone, Dictionaries: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp.140, ISBN: 0199573794


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Filed Under: Dictionaries Tagged With: Cultural history, Dictionaries, Language, Lexicography

A Little Book of Nicknames

June 14, 2009 by Roy Johnson

alternatives for the famous, notorious, and infamous

Have you ever wondered where nicknames come from – or why we use them? You can find out here in this brisk and witty excursion into the stories behind the nicknames of hundreds of famous people, places, and institutions. It’s a combination of nicknames used in sport, politics, public life, and cinema. Strangely enough, showbiz seems not to generate many nicknames amongst its members – though they do better with catchphrases.

A Little Book of Nicknames Entries run from the deeply ironic Action Man (Prince Charles) to the affectionate Zizou (Zinedine Zidane – the French footballer). It’s interesting to see how the popularity of one nickname can lead to the creation of another. For instance … Gazza (Paul Gascoigne – footballer) leads to Hezza (Michael Hezeltine – politician) and even Prezza (John Prescott – politician) the notoriously gauche deputy to Tony Blair (Bambi), who also famously got the nickname two Jags when as the minister for transport he used two executive saloons to drive 300 yards to deliver a speech urging less car use and fuel conservation.

This spirit of linguistic inventiveness it also evident in names and phrases coined from other forms of word play. So Oxford, whose nickname is the city of dreaming spires (a quote from Thyrsis by Matthew Arnold) becomes the city of perspiring dreams, and former liberal leader Paddy Ashdown immediately becomes Paddy Pantsdown when it is revealed he has been having Ugandan discussions with his secretary.

This is a compilation which will be ideal for anyone who wants to catch up with cultural life at street level in the UK and the US. It includes football clubs – the Cottagers (Fullham – not what you might think) the Gunners (Arsenal), and the Blades (Sheffield) – and jazz musicians Earl Hines, Jelly Roll Morton, and Zoot Sims.

It’s written by lexicographer Andrew Delahunty who also produced The Oxford Dictionary of Nicknames. There’s a full set of nicknames for USA states, and he also covers the origins of all those nicknames which are foisted on to people with certain surnames – such as Blanco White, Nobby Clark, and Dixie Dean.

He also includes plenty of gossip about who was whose lover – from silent film star Pola Negri right up to David Beckham – the Goldenballs of the book’s title – according to his wife Posh.

There are one or two etymologies that I think slang experts such as Michael Quinion might dispute – but on the whole most are convincingly sourced. This is one of those reference books which it’s difficult to put down, once you start reading.

© Roy Johnson 2005

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Andrew Delahunty, Goldenballs and the Iron Lady: a little book of nicknames, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.254, ISBN 0198609647


Filed Under: Slang Tagged With: Dictionaries, Language use, Nicknames, Reference, Slang

A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation

July 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

pocket guide to the basics of English language

Most people are a bit frightened of grammar and punctuation – with some reason, because both can be very complex issues. Fortunately, anybody who can speak their own language is already in possession of all the tools they need for using it correctly. This isn’t to say that we don’t need a little help from time to time. And that’s where guides like this one come in useful. John Seely starts off with a brief overview of English sentence structure, and how the parts relate to each other. He explains all the main elements of speech, and uses everyday examples as illustrations. Then it’s on to the main substance of the book, which starts at abbreviations and runs via main clause to who’s/whose and will/shall. In between, he covers all the main issues which crop up time and again as problems for everyday users of English.

Grammar and PunctuationHow do you punctuate lists of terms? How can you avoid the split infinitive? What is the rule for using apostrophes? What is the difference between can and may? What’s the correct way to show speech in writing? Is between you and me correct English? Answer: yes it is.

He uses a minimum of jargon, and makes all his explanations as succinct as possible. I particularly liked one visual feature of this book. Longer topics, such as paragraphs and prefixes are given their own shaded boxes, and somehow this makes both the topic and its surrounding items easier to read.

This book will be ideal if you want a reference offering quick simple explanations, but you could also use it as an introduction to a more in-depth study of the subject.

This is a new series from OUP – a pocketbook guides on the basics of writing and language skills. They’re small, cheap, cheerful, and compact, yet authoritative – the sort of thing which I imagine would be ideal for students or the average person-in-the-street who wants to take on the first principles of improving their language skills.

© Roy Johnson 2009

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John Seely, Oxford A—Z of Grammar and Punctuation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2nd edition 2009, pp.192, ISBN: 0199564671


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An A-Z of Effective Vocabulary

January 17, 2010 by Roy Johnson

1001 words you need to know and use

I’m often amazed at the number of verbally articulate people who freeze up the minute the need to express themselves in writing.  They get a couple of words onto the page, and then seem to hit a blank wall. Alternatively, they might be asked to describe something they know perfectly well, and produce what looks like a note to the milkman. The unproven theory I offer to students to help them overcome this problem is that writing is like sport: you need to practice regularly to stay in shape. An A-Z of Effective Vocabulary is an antidote to this problem.

An A-Z of Effective VocabularyYou also need to have a vocabulary at your disposal that’s appropriate for the writing task at hand. That’s where this book is aiming to help. It’s a sort of specialist dictionary with extra supplements that act as guides for common writing tasks. The effective vocabulary items have been grouped for you in advance, according to your activity Here’s how it works.

You start from the point of having a common writing task. This could be any one of the following:

  • writing a report
  • drafting a business proposal
  • expressing your opinion
  • discussing a topic
  • describing an event
  • writing a CV and job application

First you consult the subject index, which lists the terms you might need according to your objective:

  • Application letters
  • Describing events
  • Essays and term papers
  • Evaluation reports
  • Funding bids
  • Interview techniques

and so on. Here you find listed a selection of vocabulary items which are likely to be effective. For instance, in the section for writing CVs, you are offered able, accomplish, accredited, accurate, achieve ,active, adapt and so on.

If you are writing a report, you will find a list of words you could use in your report, to help present your explanation or argument in a persuasive way. For example, you could choose accurate, compelling, enterprise or significant. By then turning to the main A-Z sequence you will find guidance on the meaning and use of these words.

This is, in one sense, the most important part of the book, where you are invited to learn the subtle shades of meaning which attach to words. You are also given examples of their use in different contexts to illustrate these distinctions.

objective adjective, noun
adjective not influenced by personal opinions or feelings, but considering only the facts: There’s little objective evidence to suggest that he is guilty • It’s hard for parents to be objective about their own children • noun something you are trying to achieve: What is the main objective of this project? • You must set realistic aims and objectives for yourself.
Usage objective, goal or target? See target. Usage The opposite of objective is subjective, ‘based on your own ideas or opinions rather than facts and therefore sometimes unfair’: a highly subjective point of view • Everyone’s opinion is bound to be subjective.
Word family objectively adverb Try to weigh up the issues as objectively as you can. objectivity noun: The survey’s claims to scientific objectivity are highly dubious.

Also included is a guide to pronunciation – which is particularly useful for words such as penchant which are of foreign origin. This is a curious book, but one which writers who need assurance might find helpful. It’s the latest addition to the popular mini-series that includes the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation, the Oxford Guide to Plain English, and the Oxford A-Z of Better Spelling.

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© Roy Johnson 2010


Martin H. Manser, An A-Z of Effective Vocabulary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp.166, ISBN: 0199560056


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Better Wordpower

July 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

learn how words are formed, written, and used

Better Wordpower is a popular language guide based on a simple notion – that a deeper grasp of language and the way words are used is the sure route to more efficient and effective communication. It offers several different approaches to what Reader’s Digest used to call Improve your Wordpower. It begins by showing you how to use dictionaries, encyclopedias and other language books effectively.

Better Wordpower Then it goes through the basic rules of spelling; lists of words which are commonly confused (affect and effect for instance); a list of foreign words and phrases; and a list of antonyms – words which mean the opposite, as in eager and apathetic or winsome and repulsive.

One of the most useful sections for increasing your wordpower is that listing prefixes and suffixes (what they call ‘word parts’) which help in the formation of new terms (auto- self, or automatic – as in autobiography, automobile or -ectomy surgical removal – as in vasectomy, appendectomy).

This is followed by an explanation of words used in common areas of human activity – animal life, architecture, art, astronomy, botany, computers, diseases, finance, geology, language, mathematics, music, physics and chemistry, psychology and psychiatry, shipping, and weather.

There are even illustrations in these sections, making the book like a mini-encyclopedia. Some of these categories seem somewhat arbitrary, but at least they point the user in the direction of intellectual categories – which is one of the prime purposes of the book.

The compilation ends with another very useful list of difficult, obscure, and what they call ‘hard’ words. These range from the reasonably well-known (alopecia ‘baldness’) to more abstruse terms such as (loricate ‘having an armour of scales or plates’).

All in all, it’s an accessible and readable guide which helps you through some of the most common pitfalls and complications of the English language. Ideally suitable for beginners, users in the classroom, or self-improvers of any kind.

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© Roy Johnson 2005


Janet Whitcut, Better Wordpower, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp.329, ISBN: 0192801082


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Bloomsbury Concise Dictionary

May 26, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a dictionary which is also an encyclopedia

There’s a great deal of competition amongst dictionaries and encyclopedias these days. You can buy the New Oxford Dictionary for the price of a couple of hardback books; Encarta comes cheap enough; and you can even get the whole of Encyclopedia Britannica on disk for less than a tenner. So any serious contender as a desktop reference work must have something special to offer in order to be taken seriously. And the Bloomsbury Concise Dictionary does that by packing in an amazing number of extra features – which is what makes it something of a hybrid, combining the basic data you expect in a conventional dictionary with some of the features of an encyclopedia.

Bloomsbury Concise DictionaryIt offers what it calls ‘quick definitions’, which are summaries of the different meanings a word can have. These are useful for navigating through longer entries. Almost every entry is also given a cross reference or labelled with a category to which it belongs. I think I see the influence of hyperlinking at work here. In fact there is quite a lot of visual novelty, because font size, emphasis, and bullet points are used to guide you through the explanations of terms.

The most obvious feature which stands out and I think makes the book attractive is the use of illustrations, maps, tables, and diagrams. It’s obviously more helpful to show a map of the Czech Republic, rather than describing where it is geographically.

For those people who want to use a dictionary to help them improve their use of English, there are all sorts of aids to language and its problems. There is a spellcheck feature which draws attention to words whose spelling is unusual or problematic. Words are placed into a context to demonstrate how they are correctly used. There are notes on grammar, pronunciation, and issues of style and levels of formality. A typical entry runs as follows:

intrigue n/in treeg, in treég/ 1 SECRET PLOTTING secret scheming or plotting 2 SECRET PLOT a secret scheme or plot 3 SECRET LOVE AFFAIR a secret love affair (archaic) • v/in treeg/ (-trigues, -triguing, -trigued) 1 vt INTEREST to make somebody greatly interested or curious 2 vi SCHEME to scheme or use underhand methods to achieve something [Early 17C Via French < Italian intrigo < intrigare ‘entangle’ < Latin intricare (see INTRICATE) —intriguer /in treegar/ n —intriguingly vi

In terms of lexicon, the main body of the work is drawn from the Bloomsbury Corpus of World English, which now has a database of over 150 million words. There is a substantial proportion of recently-coined terms in evidence – so you can be confident of finding (for instance) an explanation of the technological sense of backbone [the core of an electronic network] along with its biological sense of ‘spinal column’.

And if all that isn’t enough, there are also panels giving what they call ‘quick facts’ on subjects such as the Baroque period in architecture and the Human Genome project. These give the key names, dates, publications, and technologies involved. So, with 220,000 word definitions and 8,000 entries on people and places, I doubt if it would be possible to pack much more into a desktop reference book of this kind.

© Roy Johnson 2005

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Bloomsbury Concise English Dictionary, London: A & C Black, 2nd edn, 2005, pp.1687, ISBN: 0713674997


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Filed Under: Dictionaries Tagged With: Dictionaries, Language, Reference, Research

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

May 26, 2009 by Roy Johnson

famous encyclopedia of references and sources

Who were Gargantua’s parents? What are ‘naughty figs’? And what is the origin of the pub name, ‘The Dog and Duck’? It’s no use looking in a dictionary to answer questions like these – and if you pick up an encyclopedia, where would you start? What you need is an old, old favourite reference manual for the humanities – Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & FableIt is a compilation of people, places, sayings, customs, and mythology – first published by the Reverend Ebenezer Cobham Brewer in 1870 and massively popular with writers, readers, and crossword-puzzle fans ever since. Brewer was a clergyman-scholar who wrote books on popular education and literature. He drew the bulk of his materials from his reading of the classics.

But to this is added a now-quaint Victorian gloss of the public school polymath. Adrian Room, the editor of this latest version, has introduced French jargon, inkhorn literary terms, and many more historical and fictional characters to those legendary, mythical, and fabulous creatures in the original.

Sometimes Brewer’s entries are so blindingly obvious, you wonder why they were included [‘Fore’ – in the front rank; eminent] but most of the time his examples are very entertaining. A section on ‘Death from Strange Causes’ includes ‘Aeschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald head from the claws of an eagle in the air’ and ‘Margutte died of laughter on seeing a monkey trying to pull on a pair of boots’. To this he adds the footnote: ‘It will be observed that four of the last died of laughter. No doubt the reader will be able to add other examples.’

He is particularly good at explaining the historical origins and the symbolic connotations of things we often take for granted, such as pub names, expressions such as ‘too bandy about’ and the hidden meanings in such expressions as ‘a game-leg’. The compilation is also stuffed with potted biographies of Biblical, mythical, and fictional characters, along with all sorts of other ‘knowledge – from the origins of the letter ‘A’, to the note on Zulfagar, which turns out to be the name of Ali’s sword – Ali of course being the cousin and son-in-law of Mahomet.

As you can probably tell, it’s an interesting mixture of really useful reference material and slightly dotty erudition. But it’s that which gives the book its charm. It’s the sort of compilation which when you look up a reference, you can hardly stop yourself reading through lots of the adjacent entries and marvelling at the breadth of learning it represents. It’s the only work of reference I can think of in which you’re guaranteed a laugh on just about every page.

© Roy Johnson 2012

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Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, London: Chambers, 19th revised edition 2012, pp.1536, ISBN: 0550102450


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Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language

June 14, 2009 by Roy Johnson

history, grammar, and use of world’s languages

If you take a close interest in language, a dictionary alone is sometimes not enough. You occasionally need a book like this which can explain basics. It isn’t an encyclopaedia in the normal sense: it’s a very readable series of articles, essays, definitions, tables, maps and pictures on every conceivable aspect of languages from around the world. In fact it’s the only reference book of its kind I’ve ever read all the way through, from start to finish. David Crystal has devoted his life to the study of language, and of all his many books on the subject, his Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language is the one to which I return most often.

Encyclopedia of Language It’s a wonderful compendium of easily accessible information on all aspects of language, and there are gems of information on every page. It is written in a lively, non-pedantic style, and is profusely illustrated in such a way as to reinforce our understanding and make it more interesting.

He offers a very readable and humane way to introduce anyone to the wonders and mysteries of human language. He covers topics such as the origins and diversity of languages; the differences between the spoken and the written word; phonetics, semantics, and stylistics; the contentious issues of pronunciation, accent, dialect, and slang; alphabets, dictionaries, and thesauri; language acquisition and language change; grammar, spelling systems, and graphology. If it’s remotely connected with language, you will find it here – explained in a straightforward and often quite amusing manner.

I’ve used this book regularly ever since it first appeared. In fact it oscillates between office and home. The first version appeared in 1987, but you should make sure you get the latest second edition, because David Crystal has added material which takes into account the linguistic changes wrought in the decade since the original’s inception. It also includes a comprehensive glossary of terms and long lists of suggestions for further reading. There’s everything here you will need until you are ready to study language at quite an advanced level.

© Roy Johnson 2010

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David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3rd edn 2010, pp.524, ISBN: 0521736501


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Chambers Dictionary

June 8, 2009 by Roy Johnson

popular and wide-ranging, one-volume dictionary

Did you know that Chambers Dictionary is the official reference dictionary for UK Scrabble competitions? And you can see why. It packs in more words, plus lots of unusual, archaic, and esoteric terms, than any other dictionary of its size. This edition combines the long-established virtues of its predecessors with a modern design and updated content. It offers coverage of English vocabulary, ranging from rare and archaic words to the latest slang and technical terms.

Chambers DictionaryIt also has an introductory essay on the history of English language, a note on American English, rules of English spelling, plus appendices giving the books of the Bible, and the works of Shakespeare. It also includes chemical elements, and phrases and quotations from Latin, Greek and modern foreign languages. What makes this dictionary really distinctive however is that it packs a huge number of words into the available space. It does this by sacrificing long encyclopedic entries and offering instead multiple variants.

It’s particularly popular with crossword puzzle, Scrabble, and word game addicts – mainly because it lists so many unusual words. Some people even prefer it to the popular Collins and the venerable Oxford dictionaries.

The definitions given can be quite quirky and entertaining. For instance, the term eclair is defined as a cake ‘long in shape, but short in duration’.

The text is easy to read, because Chambers follow the now-conventional practice of putting the headword in bold sans-serif type. This stands out well from the definitions which follow, which are set in a serifed font. It looks a bit like this:

abscind ab-sind, vt to cut off. —n abscissa also absciss or abscisse (ab’sis) the intercept between a fixed point and the foot of an ordinate; the x-co-ordinate in analytic geometry; — pl abscissae (ab-sisë or -sis’i), absciss’as or ab’scisses. —n abscission (-sizh’en) an act of cutting off, or the state of being cut off; a figure of speech in which words demanded by the sense are left unsaid, the speaker stopping short suddenly (rhetoric); organised shedding of a part (eg a leaf or fruit) (bot); liberation of a fungal spore by breakdown of part of its stalk (bot). — absciss layer or abscission layer (bot) a layer of parenchymatous cells through which a leaf, branch or bark scale separates off. [L abscindere, abscissum to cut off, from ab from, and scindere to cut]

The latest edition contains over 300,000 definitions, and as other reviewers have pointed out, it should not be confused with the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. This one is much better and covers a far wider range.

© Roy Johnson 2011

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Chambers Dictionary, London: Chambers, 12th edition 2011, pp.1920, ISBN: 055010237X


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Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus

June 11, 2009 by Roy Johnson

dictionary and thesaurus – two books in one

The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus (In One Volume) was first produced in 1987.  My copy is the 1990 reprint and like all good dictionaries it is now falling apart, because it has stopped me from falling apart in the decade since I received it as a gift from my wife.  Even though I have the advantage of spellcheck and thesaurus on computer, The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus is – and will remain – on my desk.  Why do I like it so much?  Why is it such a popular dictionary?

Dictionary and ThesaurusWhen it came out, it was the first time that a dictionary and thesaurus had been put together in this format.  Like all great concepts, it was essentially a simple idea – a general purpose dictionary and thesaurus arranged so that matching relevant material was printed on the same page.  If you want to check the spelling and meaning of concubine, you look at the top half of the page, then check out the lower thesaurus half for a range of alternative words.

This is just very convenient, and it makes the book doubly useful. The arrangement of the print and the division of the pages is very attractive to the eye and easy to read – which is a godsend for people who have to work late to deliver deadlines.  The alphabetical ordering is thumb indexed with the letters printed in gold on a black background. The aesthetic qualities of the Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus are excellent to the last detail, and this shows a design awareness that is in tune with the people most likely to use it. The book which stares up at me from the desk looks good as well as having first-rate content.

There are 71,000 dictionary references and a quarter of a million thesaurus synonyms in this volume, all gathered from the larger Collins English Dictionary and New Collins Thesaurus.  I believe a good dictionary gives a feel for the linguistic zeitgeist of the time in which it was produced.  Open this volume at any page and you’ll be hit by the vibrant choice of words – hatchet man, roly-poly, parodist, polish off.  Look in the Thesaurus – what synonyms does it give for Police? Boys In Blue, Fuzz, Old Bill, The Law. It’s plain to see that this volume is aimed at being more than a language tool: it’s also a good read.

This strength, the volume’s readability, can also be perceived as a weakness.  It’s hard to open the book, get the word you immediately need, and then shut it and move on. I invariably, end up skimming and scanning the rest of the page, flicking through, opening at random and seeing what jumps off the page.  This is great fun, but it can be a distraction when there’s a deadline to meet.

The definitions of words are plainly and exactly expressed throughout. Cannelloni are ‘tubular pieces of pasta filled with meat or cheese’. The synonyms are often poetic, evocations of the many spirits resident within a single word.  Dig yields break up, burrow, delve, excavate, gouge, grub, hoe, hollow out, mine.

In his introduction to A Dictionary Of The English Language, Samuel Johnson wrote that those who engaged in the business of writing dictionaries were ‘exposed to censure without hope of praise’.  Or as we might call it the ‘Hiding to Nothing’ syndrome. Personally, I can’t praise the managing editor William T McLeod and his team enough.  They have produced a book that would be my choice of reading matter if I was stranded on a desert island – a popular, attractive, user-friendly and entertaining celebration of language.

© Mark Roberts 2011

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The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus In One Volume, London: Collins, 5th edition 2011, pp.1344, ISBN: 0007429029


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