Dictionary Project



Over the weekend, I did something I haven’t done in I don’t know how long. I opened a dictionary. I don’t mean an online dictionary, one that I consult anywhere from 20 to 50 times a day. I mean a real, hard-copy, paper and ink, real-world, hold- it-in-your-hands, place-it-on-the-table, flip-the-pages dictionary.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ 

http://dictionary.reference.com/ 

http://onelook.com/ 

http://www.oed.com/ 

When I was in my 20’s, I started making lists of words I came across in my everyday reading and listening. I also made it a habit always to have a dictionary within reach—and not only English dictionaries but foreign-language dictionaries as well—Spanish, Latin, Japanese, Hebrew, and other languages with which I am familiar. I even kept one in my car. I began constantly to look up etymologies, pronunciations, and alternate meanings of words.

In recent years, because of the virtual ubiquity of online language resources, I have hardly touched my many dictionaries. I am sure they have missed me as much as I have missed them. So, yesterday I pulled my trusty American Heritage Dictionary off the shelf and delved into it, as of old. It was very nostalgic.

A few years ago on my blog, I started a dictionary project, in which I began to go through the dictionary from A to Z (I’m still in the A’s) to learn interesting new words and comment on those words I found interesting. This link will connect you to what I have written so far.

http://yeshliblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Dictionary%20Project 

I am resolving to pick up the narrative and continue my journey through the English lexicon. Some like to slide down mountains on skis; some like to skim across the water or dive into the depths of the ocean. I am rarely happier than when immersed in words and their pedigrees.

Please feel free to share interesting words, phrases, and/or anecdotes about words for research, comment, inclusion and attribution in my blog.

Featured Dictionary Site

As a word lover, I discovered the greatest dictionary site the other day. courtesy of my friend Dan. With one entry, you get dozens of results.

Dictionary Search

Here's an example of what the results of a search look like:

We found 31 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word balderdash: Click on the first link on a line below to go directly to a page where "balderdash" is defined. General (30 matching dictionaries)

1. balderdash: Compact Oxford English Dictionary [home, info]

2. balderdash: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language [home, info]

3. balderdash: Macmillan Dictionary [home, info]

4. balderdash: Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 11th Edition [home, info]
5. Balderdash, balderdash: Wordnik [home, info]

6. balderdash (noun, exclamation): Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary [home, info]
7. balderdash: Wiktionary [home, info]
8. balderdash: Collins Pocket English Dictionary [home, info]
9. balderdash: Encarta® World English Dictionary, North American Edition [home, info]
10. balderdash: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed. [home, info]
11. balderdash: The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus [home, info]
12. balderdash: Infoplease Dictionary [home, info]
13. Balderdash, balderdash: Dictionary.com [home, info]
14. balderdash: Online Etymology Dictionary [home, info]
15. balderdash: UltraLingua English Dictionary [home, info]
16. Balderdash (disambiguation), Balderdash (game), Balderdash (game show), Balderdash: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia [home, info]
17. Balderdash: Online Plain Text English Dictionary [home, info]
18. balderdash: Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition [home, info]
19. balderdash: Rhymezone [home, info]
20. Balderdash: AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary [home, info]
21. balderdash: Webster's 1828 Dictionary [home, info]
22. BALDERDASH: Dictionary of Americanisms (1848) [home, info]
23. Balderdash: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) [home, info]
24. balderdash: Free Dictionary [home, info]
25. balderdash: Mnemonic Dictionary [home, info]
26. balderdash: WordNet 1.7 Vocabulary Helper [home, info]
27. balderdash: LookWAYup Translating Dictionary/Thesaurus [home, info]
28. Balderdash: The Word Detective [home, info]
29. balderdash: Dictionary/thesaurus [home, info]
30. Balderdash: World Wide Words [home, info] Slang (1 matching dictionary)
31. balderdash: Urban Dictionary [home, info]

Check it out here.

Oxford English Dictionary Online

I discovered an interesting and useful piece of information today. The Oxford English Dictionary, with its wonderful wealth of information about our language, is available on line through many libraries, one of which is the Denver Public Library. This link will take you to the entry point. All you need from there is a library card. Fantastic stuff!

The OED site home page is here.

Following is a quote from the site concerning the genesis of this historic work:

"The Oxford English Dictionary has been the last word on words for over a century. But, as with a respected professor or admired parent, we count on its wisdom and authority without thinking much about how it was acquired. What is the history of the Oxford English Dictionary? Exploring its origins and development will give new insight into this extraordinary, living document.

How it began

When the members of the Philological Society of London decided, in 1857, that existing English language dictionaries were incomplete and deficient, and called for a complete re-examination of the language from Anglo-Saxon times onward, they knew they were embarking on an ambitious project. However, even they didn't realize the full extent of the work they initiated, or how long it would take to achieve the final result.

The project proceeded slowly after the Society's first grand statement of purpose. Eventually, in 1879, the Society made an agreement with the Oxford University Press and James A. H. Murray to begin work on a New English Dictionary (as the Oxford English Dictionary was then known)."

Read more here.