Which dictionary do you most identify with?

FIRST General Forum
1

I would like to know which dictionary you most identify with. Mostly because I’m tired of threads that make me think about my ethical standards and instead want a thread that makes me think about my ethical standards… but also because build season is fast approaching and I’m just a curious sort.*

Some options for you to ponder:

  • Merriam-Websters
  • Oxford English Dictionary
  • Funk & Wagnalls
  • Longman
  • Macmillan
  • Devil’s Dictionary
  • Wikipedia
  • I identify as a thesaurus (A dinosaur with a large vocabulary)
  • Other - Please specify.

*I am of course just making sure that FIRST is aware of the moral quandaries of not using multiple suppliers for lexicons.

2

since im a filthy millennial i like dictionary.com

3

Oxford simply because I’m a big fan of their shoes, their university, and their comma.

4

I prefer searching “define” + word on google.

5

The OED is the best dictionary by far. American Heritage is fine. MW is so bad it doesn’t deserve to be one of the options. I’m angry you even included it.

6

Urban

7

I selected “thesaurus” because it is closest to the dictionary I identify with.

Not a dictionary at all. Just a dinosaur.

8

I picked other. I prefer to create my own dictionary as the season progresses, just so I can give Marshall a headache at champs. :yikes: :yikes:

9

As am I. Well chosen

10

Marshall,
It appears that you of the benighted belief that the aphorism:

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never sure.

applies to dictionaries. Trust me, the owner of a single unabridged (or lightly abridged) dictionary can be just as confused as someone with a library of them.::rtm::

11

I’m shocked. You didn’t include my favorite at all!

That one being the “whichever one has the definition that best fits my needs” dictionary, of course! Takes elements from all of the above, plus “street slang” and “Humpty Dumpty”.

If you don’t get that last one, read “Through the Looking Glass” for Alice’s encounter with said illustrious personage.

12

I’m personally a fan of Python dictionaries. O(1) key lookup? Yes please!

13

“Identify with” is an odd phrasing (though I assume it’s intentionally so). I chose M-W because I generally go to m-w.com for a quick definition. But I’ve likely chosen it not due to any particular selection criteria and thought put into why, but that it’s just a reasonable brand I’ve heard of. I’ve used Wiktionary on occasion as well.

Of course, one has to keep in mind that any dictionary is merely the dictionary compilers’ thoughts on what people have used specific words to mean in the past, and isn’t any sort of authority on what usage is “correct”. Language is constantly changing, and I’m often amazed at how much it has changed in just my short lifetime so far. (And also, it’s pretty amazing that text written in English from only a few hundred years ago is almost unintelligible today without further references as to what words meant at that time.)

14

Honestly, the data structure is where I went with this inmediately too…

15

May I ask who you will be using for printing services? Or will you just be publishing it as an ebook?

16

Sounds dangerously descriptivist for someone with a STEM interest!

I prefer the uncertainty principle of language: words have perpetually fixed meanings, but any attempt to understand their meaning will change it.

17

Definitely more Funk than Wagnall.

18

You young whippersnappers. When I was your age we had to carry our dictionaries and thesaurysesesss with us through the snow, uphill, both ways.

And don’t get me started about walking to the library in 100 degree heat to do any research.

19

Strongly recommending James Gleick’s The Information to anyone with more than a passing interest in this subject.

20

lol nerd