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The Oxford English Dictionary: 20 Volume Set and CD-ROM [With CDROM]
by
The 20-Volume OED and the new Version 3.0 CD-ROM makes exploring the resources of the most authoritative dictionary of the English language easy and complete.
The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the evolution of the English language from 1150 to the present day. The Dictionary defines over 500,000 words and traces their usage throug ...more
The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the evolution of the English language from 1150 to the present day. The Dictionary defines over 500,000 words and traces their usage throug ...more
Hardcover, 22000 pages
Published
December 28th 2002
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1933)
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Start your review of The Oxford English Dictionary: 20 Volume Set and CD-ROM [With CDROM]
Man this book is booooooooring... It's just a bunch of definitions....
...more
i'm workin' my way straight through! really. my vocab is gonna be HUGE! and then maybe i can move away from all my "hick tawk". prolly not.
...more
Jun 04, 2020
Melody Schwarting
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
r-nf-gen
I love reference books. Indeed, I was that child who set out to read the dictionary. Frankly, it's not the best way to improve one's vocabulary, but it made me feel like a Scripp's kid (if you thought I didn't grow up watching the Bee live on TV and idolizing the spellers, you thought wrong).
Fast forward to college, I learned about the Oxford English Dictionary in college. Sure, I knew such a thing existed, but until then, I'd never had access to the OED, and thus was uninitiated into its powers ...more
Fast forward to college, I learned about the Oxford English Dictionary in college. Sure, I knew such a thing existed, but until then, I'd never had access to the OED, and thus was uninitiated into its powers ...more
The Oxford English Dictionary, or OED, is probably the best reference dictionary in the entire world. I have the 1989 20-volume set and so far have yet come up empty when looking something up, which I do at least once a week.
It is a prized centerpiece of my book collection and I cannot imagine that it - like airplane tickets, good running shoes and anything by Ross Thomas or Jim Thompson - is anything short of an investment in my future and that of my family. ...more
It is a prized centerpiece of my book collection and I cannot imagine that it - like airplane tickets, good running shoes and anything by Ross Thomas or Jim Thompson - is anything short of an investment in my future and that of my family. ...more
I got this in 1987, so I'm not sure I have this edition. I might have the one before. In any case, this is my most prized book (are the most prized books) in my collection.
...more
This was not as riveting a read as one might suspect and the ending was too predictable.
Well, not "Read" like "Finished," but I dip into it a lot.
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Essential reference for a complete understanding of the English language. Highly recommended.
Simpson, John, Editor (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary
ISBN-10: 0198611862 $924.31
Content/Scope: The entirety of the English Language, by definition. Literally.
Accuracy/Authority: The Oxford Dictionary is one of the most well-known and widely-accepted dictionaries in the world. It is arguably one of the most authoritative dictionaries in the English Speaking world.
Arrangement/Presentation: No visuals, words in alphabetical order
Rationale: Every reference collection needs a good dictionary, an ...more
ISBN-10: 0198611862 $924.31
Content/Scope: The entirety of the English Language, by definition. Literally.
Accuracy/Authority: The Oxford Dictionary is one of the most well-known and widely-accepted dictionaries in the world. It is arguably one of the most authoritative dictionaries in the English Speaking world.
Arrangement/Presentation: No visuals, words in alphabetical order
Rationale: Every reference collection needs a good dictionary, an ...more
The most comprehensive dictionary of the English language (this second edition consists of over half a million words), its true beauty is the extensive etymology of over 2.5 million quotations. Not only a scholarly masterpiece, it's also a tremendous amount of fun to peruse. Read "The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary" for the unusual story of Dr. W.C. Minor, one of the major contributors to the original edition, who was incarce
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Most likely, the OED is completely impractical as an everyday-use dictionary or for school. However, as a reference dictionary, it is probably without peer, thoroughly documenting the history of each and every word to have ever been published in the English language, with every definition and sense listed in chronological order. I'm really looking forward to the publication of the dictionary's third edition, while realizing that it could be impractical for it to appear in print (with a possible
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I am torn. I haven't the shelf space for a personal copy (to heck with the miniature two volume with magnifying glass, I say) and have yet to receive a set, complete with bookcase, as a Valentine's day gift, but I am not luddite enough to stay away from the online subscription I have access to at work. Print vs. electronic? I say yes to both.
Recent wordquisition: "long in the tooth" does refer to age, derived from estimating a horse's age based on its teeth.
I heart etymology!
...more
Recent wordquisition: "long in the tooth" does refer to age, derived from estimating a horse's age based on its teeth.
I heart etymology!
...more
Ever since I was a young boy I dreamed of owning the greatest dictionary in the world. One day my energy company told me I had been overcharged for several years and they owed me £350!
A couple of days later while browsing Amazon wondering how to spend it (as one does in times of good or ill fortune), I found the OED on special offer at £450!
One of my dreams has come true.
Now if only Tara would call me after all these years. . . . . .
A couple of days later while browsing Amazon wondering how to spend it (as one does in times of good or ill fortune), I found the OED on special offer at £450!
One of my dreams has come true.
Now if only Tara would call me after all these years. . . . . .
Without doubt the greatest lexical achievement produced thus far and probably the best printed dictionary that will ever be (since it'll all be just internets from here on out). Beautifully made, cleanly written, and tremendously researched. Fun just to leaf through, definitive in settling disagreements this is a book more people should spend more time with, myself included.
...more
Jun 18, 2010
Aarron Kemp
is currently reading it
The perfect gift for a freshly minted MLIS graduate. :-) Every entry is a small story that allows for reflection upon how the word has played a role (or has yet to) in my life. Geeky, meditative, and profoundly satisfying.
Truly, if I were ever stranded on a deserted island, the bound version of the OED is all I would need. Well, a songbook with the lyrics to all my favorite Christmas songs would also be nice. I could probably last in isolation indefinitely if I only had those 2 books.
This is pretty dry, but I find myself thinking about it daily so there must be something to it. Stylistic very avante garde.
This is one "book" I'll never read all the way through, but it's one of my favorites.
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Mar 21, 2008
Zelda
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Zelda by:
the best thing my dad ever got me
Awesome for bragging rights alone, and it's always fun to aid weaker lexicon owners in times of crisis.
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This is one "book" I don't think you can ever move to the "read" shelf...
...more
May 20, 2008
Crazy Uncle Ryan
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
dictionaries
The OED rules in the Heavens as the great and powerful god of all English dictionaries. This is hands down the most complete dictionary of the English Language ever made.
No, I haven't finished reading it.
...more
The greatest single achievemnt of acadamia in the english language
Oct 21, 2008
Ist 605
added it
An essential resource for any mid-size college with a large population of English majors.
-Lara
-Lara
If I had this book on a desert island, my life would not miss a beat.
Nov 07, 2008
Gage Young
marked it as to-read
I feel that after completing Dr. Suess's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, I am fully prepared to read the 20 volume set of the Oxford Dictionary.
...more
Dec 10, 2008
Paul
added it
Yeah I Read it... Wanna prove I didn't?????. It was just okay. Mundane plot and lacked a believable ending
...more
Feb 28, 2009
Harold
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
currently-reading-but-slowly
My favorite! Will I ever finish?
online edition. brilliant but annoying. surprisingly incomplete. more a catalog of historical usage than strictly a dictionary (pure dictionary: websters international tops).
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Oxford English Dictionary | 2 | 16 | Oct 21, 2008 06:57PM |
John Simpson joined the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary in the summer of 1976. He was appointed Chief Editor in 1993. He is a member of the English Faculty at Oxford and of the Philological Society (where the idea of the Dictionary was first mooted in the 1850s), and a Fellow of Kellogg College. He is a world expert on proverbs and slang, and has edited dictionaries on both these subjects f
...more
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