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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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What about duplicates? For example, I have two copies of Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, one for work and one for home.
Bingley
Bingley
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So, f'rinstance, biblical dictionaries would count, e.g. Paul J. Achtemeier, Ed., Harper's Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985, and John D. Davis, The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible rev. ed., Philadelphia: Westminster, 1944, as would F.L. Cross & F.A. Livingstone, Eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2d ed.), London: Oxford University Press, 1974 but Michael Walsh, Ed., Dictionary of Christian Biography, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2001, would not, because it contains short biographies (like in Who's Who) rather than definitions.
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I only kept four in the last move. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Scrabble Dictionary 3rd Edition interesting to note that "squaw" was in the 2nd Edition, but is missing from the 3rd, Pequeño Larrouse Illustrado (Español) and The Bantam New College Spanish/English Dictionary.
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Only one paper dictionary for English, Chambers, and one CD-ROM, Merriam-Webster. One Spanish, one Italian, and three Hindi. That's it.
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I'm almost ashamed to finally report this, for a couple of reasons. thirty-seven (37)
the reasons:
- the number is clearly excessive in comparison to some
- the number is on the other hand paltry in comparison to some here and in light of my conceits
- the subset that is coextensive with a subset of Wordmarm's list :)
- I haven't actualized the list for posting
- the way that I have bandied about the number thirty-seven in other contexts [think of the way that the number forty-two has been corrupted]
well that was patently more than a couple. so tsue me.
p.s. - the rule [insert standard AWADian disclaimer on rules here] I finally employed is this:
count it if it can be used it to look up a word spelling/definition/etymology/pronunciation/citation other lexicographical element; don't count it if its prime use is for translation, comparitive discourse, or other maundering attributes.
this served to eliminate things such as phrase books, extended glossaries tacked onto other tomes (see e.g. Mencken's "The American Language"), scholarly discursions on word use (Safire, Buckley, Hayakawa, et al), etc.
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journeyman
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Just one. Why buy something useful and fascinating when I can consistently and ignorantly waste my paltry income on candy and pizza? I really would like a (any) version of the OED though.
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the way that I have bandied about the number thirty-seven in other contexts [think of the way that the number forty-two has been corrupted]
- and -
this served to eliminate things such as...
Something is rotten in the state of...
I thought the "problem-child" number was 43...
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but I'm sure most of them are foreign language dictionaries.
We have a Websters and an American Heritage.
And we have a two volume abridged OED.
I also have a "dictionary of difficult words" containing the kind of words that cause the chicks to flock to tsuwm.
I have 3 german-english dictionaries, one russian-english, one spanish-english.
My wife has a chinese-english dictionary (I think she has two of them).
My oldest daughter has a french-english dictionary.
I used to have a german-english dictionary of science and math terms which I loved, but I loaned it out and it never returned.
A pretty meager account of myself.
k
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I currently have one(1!) e-groupie. her greeting is usually the inialism TLM (Teacher, Lord, Master), which I think was in response to the conceit of my ID. she often gets discouraged by my lack of response; but I can pretty much count on a minimun of one email a week.
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Pooh-Bah
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You've made it now, tswum! I expect to see your bio on E! TV next year. I can hardly wait.
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or alternatively in court when she's arrested outside your home brandishing a volume of the OED with intent to kill.
Bingley
Bingley
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yes, and it could be as soon as she picks up this thread with her constant googling for my ID.
come to think on it, her handle is Echo666...
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Echo666
Be worried. Be very worried.
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Pooh-Bah
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Asafoetida grass is said to offer good protection.
PS: that is if you *can say asafoetida
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really turned on by linguistic genius. They swoon over guys who can recite poetry or speak fluidly and effortlessly about nothing. But I'm guessing it's a rare bird who turns stalker. She might even have full size posters of you - sans T-shirt - on either side of the altar (at a safe distance from the candles, of course).
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would be appropriate an appropriate sobriquet - assuming his stalker doesn't have a problem with it, but she seems the sort who appreciates literary abusions.
k
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That doesn't wash, I'm afraid.
TEd
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Like victuals, asafoetida is easy enough to pronounce long as you don't know how to spell it.
And, TEd, I'd watch out for that blue language if I were you.
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>And, TEd, I'd watch out for that blue language if I were you.
That's right, just Pilate on!
TEd
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Um ... I'm pretty sure I spelt the word I intended to spell.
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Pooh-Bah
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She might even have full size posters of you - sans T-shirt
Dibs on a copy of that!
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only in your nightmares, Sparteye.
(say, the Spartans looked almost as hapless as the gofers against Illinois.)
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Pooh-Bah
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*sigh* Yeah.
I'm afraid we've had several bridesmaid's seasons in a row, now.
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I remember the Spartans are a sports team but I forget what the sport is (American football? basketball?), but what is a bridesmaid season? When the team is the runner up in the league or whatever it might be?
Bingley
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Concise Oxford
Oxford Dictionary for the Business World
Roget's Thesaurus
Peter Collin Dictionary of Law
Peter Collin Dictionary of Banking and Finance
Indonesia/Inggris Kamus Visual/Visual Dictionary
Kamus Inggris Indonesia
Kamus Indonesia Inggris
Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
Oxford Dictionary of Law
Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia
Black's Law Dictionary
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
BBC English Dictionary
Learner's Dictionary of Today's Indonesian
Osborne's Concise Law Dictionary
Oxford Paperback French Dictionary and Grammar
Bantam New College Latin and English Dictionary
Langenscheidt Pocket Classical Greek Dictionary
Oxford Thesaurus
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
---
OED 2 volume version (on permanent loan to my father)
Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English (ditto)
Bingley
Bingley
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but I forget what the sport is
Spartans is the nickname for all the sports teams of the particular university. I'm sure Ann has one particular team in mind. As for the meaning of bridesmaid season I haven't the foggiest.
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Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. A lament about never being in first place. Apparently this is something that the Spartans are very good at.
GO
TEd
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Pooh-Bah
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Yes, the reference to bridesmaid seasons pertained to the Spartan basketball team's habit of generally finishing one game out of first place in the conference race for the past three years. Which is pretty good by most standards, but since MSU had finished in first place the prior four years, it's been a bit frustrating. Now ask tsuwm how the Gophers have done since 1998. 
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>Gophers
what, the academic fraud scandal?? I've forgotten all about it.
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One of my favorite local college team names is the Hobart Statesmen. They used to have an annual football game with another nearby college, the name of which escapes me, but whose team name was the Ambassadors
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spelt the word I intended to spell
Dunno about any spelling of any words you've used lately, FF. I was just responding to TEd's pathetic attempt at a pun off of your abusions. I remain steadfast in my resolve that assafitidy and vittles are easy to pronounce.
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The sports teams of Multnomah Bible College, in Portland, Oregon, USA, are called the Ambassadors.
Multnomah is an American Indian word pronounced mult=NO=muh. Ambassadors is, presumably, pronounced in the usual manner.
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Ya know, if you hadn't pointed that out probably everyone woulda noticed!
For the record: you will observe that my pathetic attempts at punning are most often typed in a mixture of casess. Case you didn't notice and case you did.
TEd
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In reply to:
Multnomah is an American Indian word pronounced mult=NO=muh.
But what does it mean?
Bingley
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In reply to: ------------------------------------------------------------ Multnomah is an American Indian word pronounced mult=NO=muh. ----------------------------------------------------------- "But what does it mean?" ~ Bingley asked. I am sure that Father Steve will tell us momentarily, Mister Bingley, but considering the neo-thinking of modern day Oregonians, a more proper question might be... "Yes, but what does it feel." 
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a mixture of cases
Or like, say, nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, and like that?
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Multnomah is a proper noun referring to the Multnomah Indian tribe. Its origin may be a corruption of a coastal dialect meaning "down river" -- which Portland is.
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How can you be down river from a coast?
Bingley
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If one had to guess, I would imagine a scenario that looked like this. Lewis and Clark (or some other Anglo explorers) asked a band of Indians up river from Portland (the mouth of the Columbia) who those Indians were downstream. The Indians they asked spoke some version of Chinook. In Chinook, the Indians answered "Those are the Indians downstream" which the white explorers took to be a proper noun rather than a locator. Isn't it fun to make up history?
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enthusiast
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American College Dictionary, Random House This is the one that I earned for obtaining 10 new subscriptions when I was a paperboy. I wasn’t, still amn’t a real Poindexter, and despite my verbophilia, I got still got Ds in Spelling – go figa. (see next)
Rhode Island Dictionary, Mark Patinkin
Webster’s Approved Dictionary, student ed.1942 World Publishing
Geological dictionary
OED, the tiny print version in 2 vols.I do use this, but bright light, strong magnification, and freshly cleaned reading glasses, are necessary
1 Roget’s
Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms, Joseph Devlin, The World Syndicate Publishing Co.
ENCYCLOPEDIA of PRACTICAL RECEIPTS & PROCESSES.
CONTAINING 6400 RECEIPTS; EMBRACING THROUGH INFORMATION in PLAIN LANGUAGE APPLICABLE to ALMOST EVERY POSSIBLE INDUSTRIAL and DOMESTIC REQUIREMENT, Wm. B. Dick 2nd ed NY Dick & Fitzgerald, Publishers, 1875I love this one. My wife saved it from the dumpster’s maw after her dad died and the sibling and in-laws (outlaws) were rushing indiscriminately to…never mind. Here are a few randomly chosen examples of the 6400 receipts. Cure for hydrophobia / To prepare laughing gas / Wash to beautify the teeth / To kill grease spots before painting / To tan muskrat skin with fur on
Webster's New College 1956This is one that I use the most. It has 10 appendices including a vocabulary of rhymes, (which does not list “orange”).
1 Bartlett’s
2 Spanish
1 French
1 German
1 Swedish
A few pocket Webster’s stashed about.
Maybe some others, but it was SO nice out this weekend…
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"muskrat skin with fur on"...may need to know more about that....
What a find! Thanks, Ms Owl for being a bit more selective than some of our relatives seem to be!
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