Re: Deciding on a Dictionary of Modern English Usage

[Laura Lemay <lemay-lists1 -at- lauralemay -dot- com>]

On Jun 8, 2007, at 11:25 AM, Cardimon, Craig wrote:
>
> Which edition by which author is THE edition most recommended or
> suggested by list members?

I don't think we have ONE agreed upon version here, at least I don't  
remember seeing one mentioned in the recent memos from the Secret  
Technical Writing Cabal.  Everyone will probably have their own  
preferences, and I suspect that one's preferences will mostly be  
based on what one ended up buying in college.

I have two main hardcopy dictionaries, a Merriam Webster Collegiate  
(what I bought in college) and an American Heritage.  The latter is  
more prescriptive (it tells you how to use words) rather than  
descriptive (it describes how words are currently used).  It also has  
more pictures.  I also have an Encarta online around here somewhere,  
and my father's old college  M-W if I need a historical comparison.

Frankly  a lot of the time when I need to spell something I just put  
it into Google.  I suppose that is the most descriptive dictionary of  
all.

Wikipedia actually has a good description of the differences between  
dictionaries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary

 From that page there are links to specific dictionaries with  
descriptions of them, whether they are more descriptive/prescriptive,  
comparisons, etc.

Laura
once fell for the "gullible" trick

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Laura Lemay     Killer of Trees     lemay % lne.com    lemay % gmail.com
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