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This might be fun to survey. Count up all your dictionaries--even include thesauruses and specialized lexicons--and report back here. It would be interesting to see how well-shelved our homes, offices, and automobiles are stocked with references. It would really be fun to see what our collective count is!
I think the OED should just count as one even though it's in volumes, unless you have the microscopic one in two volumes, I think. There's one of those microscopic ones up in the attic and, obviously, I never use it. Much too hard to read.
I'll report back on my own a little later.
27 here including a book of nautical terms and one vocabulary building volume. The most valuable one is my great grandfather's unabridged Webster's (1857). The most worn are the American Heritages and the Riverside Webster's (1987). I tend to pick up the Riverside Webster's because it is thorough, yet easy to use because of its size.
Wish list:
A copy of Dr. Johnson's The Scrabble dictionary (I'd trade my OED for a copy of Johnson's and the Scrabble dictionary!)
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do specialize dictionaries count? (partridges dicionary of the vulgar and obsene? dictionaries of graphic designs and designers? how about Peter Bowlers little book "the superior person's book of words" does that count as a dictionary?
what about those cute little volumes, (that remain largely unused) called spelling dictionaries?
(did i mention, dictionaries, (and the division, there of,) was a line item in my divorce settlement?--HE got the OED, i got everything else?)
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Yes, specialized dictionaries should count. I included "The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extrordinarily Literate"--and a few other specialized ones.
But I didn't include tree, bird, and flower books for the hobbyist since it seemed to me the photographs were more to the point than the defining of terms.
I think if the book has primary emphasis on definition, then it would be good to include.
Edit:
Here's my list since the wind bloweth hard and I goeth not outside:
Riverside Webster's (1987) American Heritage (1992) American Heritage (at school; black cover; ABC's on cover?) Random House Word Menu (great fun!) Highly Selective Dict. for the Extraordinarily Literate The Modern Physician (1942) ...also great fun! Two copies of Anu's 'a word a day' The Original Roger's Thesaurus (1965 edition) Roget's College Thesaurus in Dictionary Form Facts on File Visual Dictionary Origins of Sea Terms (thank you, Dr. Bill) Harvard Dictionary of Music Oxford American Dictionary (Ha!) Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words (hello, tsuwm) The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy The New American Dictionary of Difficult Words (faze/phase and gang) Meriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder--highly recommended for students Roget's II: The New Thesaurus (I like the original better) 1100 Words You Need To Know (You already know these, I'm sure) QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins (really, it's a word reference) The Compact Music Dictionary Webster's Dictionary Unabridged (1857) Webster's Ninth New Collegiate The American Heritage Children's Dictionary (somewhat of a disappointment) Two thesauruses at school, almost completely falling apart ...and the OED in the attic That makes 28, but I'm just counting anu's as one.
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I have nine. The smallest is... Little Giant Webster DICTIONARY Self Pronouncing 1943 About half the thickness of a pack of playing cards and weighing in at less than an ounce. 188 pages, 8,000 definition, up to the biggest... Twentieth Century DICTIONARY Unabridged 1937 Heav1ly bound with 2492 pages and about 250,000 words and weighting in at about 35 pounds or at 7,428 words per pound. I read the ones in the middle of my collection, the ones with the BIG PRINT.
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You counting Foreignian-English/Englic-Utlendic dictionaries?
I count 33 including An Outline Dictionary of Maya Glyphs, a Diccionario Guarani-Español y Español-Guarani, and El Chingolés: primer Diccionario del lenguaje popular mexicano, a dictionary devoted entirely to derivatives of the word chingar.
I'm sure there's a few more hidden in the nooks and crannies somewhere. They multiplying as I glance away. I left out a whole shelf with my earlier count.
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If it is largely a book of definitions, it could be included. I don't see where foreign languages pose any problem since such words come into our discussions here.
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Little Giant Webster DICTIONARY Self Pronouncing
Does it move your lips for you, as well?
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<counting> ..I suppose I shouldn't automatically include books with Dictionary(s) in the title, such as "Dictionaries" by Sidney Landau.. <counting>
NB:
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I suppose there could be a count of books that are mostly lists of definitions--and then a subset of books about dictionaries, tsuwm...
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You counting Foreignian-English/Englic-Utlendic dictionaries?
I was prepared to give a number until the other languages got thrown in to the mix ... now I need a calculator.
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