Oh No, No OED!
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (64169)
United States
August 29, 2010 1:07pm CST
Well, not in print maybe...
What's that? You don't know what the OED is?
Well, that would be the "Oxford English Dictionary" of course...
Now, they are saying that few people have actually used an OED, well, I have... granted it was in college, granted it was in my "History of the English Language" course, granted I haven't seen a copy of the book since I left college...
However, it isn't going away, its just going on line.
You see, for a mere $295 here in the U.S. annually, you can use the online format where it would cost close to $1200 for the 1989 print copy, and like computers, the darn thing is obsolete as soon as its created!
The worry is, because I'm a paper gal, what happens when the tech fails? What if a virus gets in and eats the darn thing up? What if a roof falls down and takes out the computer? (actually that used to be a worry about the OCLC because it was all housed in a huge computer at the Ohio College)
So, what do you think? taking it out of print is a good idea? Could you fork over several thousand dollars for a new 20 vol set? okay - I don't know if it will be more than $2,000 and I don't know if it will make it to 20 volumes, but I'm guessing it will between inflation of both the economy and the language...
Or, if you are a "word-ie" (and had the money) would you go for the annual fee?
7 people like this
17 responses
@GDTimothy (446)
• United States
29 Aug 10
Ahhh, there's nothing like having a decent dictionary on the old reading table!
But I certainly wouldn't go for one that costs that much! The larger, better libraries will still have major dictionaries for some time, I'm guessing. But of course everything is going electronic these days, and the Internet is the way to go for many enterprises. It's sad in a way, because I love the feel of the real thing in my hands - there just seems to be something missing when I read material online.
I don't know if you'd consider me a "word-ie" but I do like to keep a dictionary handy, and I'm a stickler sometimes for correct usage. But I don't tend to use a lot of big words or a lot of strange words that most people have never heard of. However, there are some authors out there who apparently take joy in using all the big, strange, rare words they can come up with - and that's quite frustrating, but that's another discussion I guess. :-)
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
29 Aug 10
a good writer might challenge the reader, a bit, but those "snobs" that do the big, long, strange words aren't really that good at actually writing.
unless you are writing for an elite, specialized audience, there is no reason for using specialized words, not and actually be UNDERSTOOD...
I agree, tho, there is something nice about having an object in the hand, tho I've certainly used online resources before, and will again - actually, since I can't find anything I have to! 
correct usage is the best - that way you don't come across as ignorant!
correct usage is the best - that way you don't come across as ignorant!3 people like this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
29 Aug 10
it is mostly libraries that by the big books, but considering that it is a multi-volume set (I think it was like 15 books when I was in college in 1973) I can understand the cost, and the research that goes into it - no more Samuel Johnson or Daniel Webster sitting there putting the words together - these things are major productions now.
1 person likes this
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
30 Aug 10
i've got the concise version which is quite good enough for me.
1 person likes this
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
31 Aug 10
Sounds like my house 
I've only recently got all the books that I had got stuffed into boxes, out of the boxes and onto a new bookcase which I built this summer. Now the house looks even more like a library annexe - with cats!
I've only recently got all the books that I had got stuffed into boxes, out of the boxes and onto a new bookcase which I built this summer. Now the house looks even more like a library annexe - with cats!1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
30 Aug 10
Hmmm, I have the compact edition; two volumes and magnifying glass to read the very small print of the definitive guide to the English language. It cost me £1 second hand from the bookstall at Pitstone Farm Museum and is both a benison and adequate for my daedalakind purposes.
All the best urban
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
31 Aug 10
hehehehehe! 'Daedakind' from Daedalus, father of Icarus. Remember him?
Icarus flew to near the sun
Into the blue his red wax did run
Daedalus was his father who made the wings, they both sought to escape with.
So, a daedalakind device is any arcane contrivance of extraordinary construction. By extension my purposes are daedalakind because they are arcane and unusual.
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
29 Aug 10
No, i wouldn't even if i could afford it.I would never use it if i had it, i don't think.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
29 Aug 10
honestly, it really isn't for the "lay" person like you and me, I used it in college, and I just love history, so I have taken the chance a few times and read the history of certain words when I've had other chances to get my hands on one... but it would be a GREAT loss if it were lost and I fear for it, and hope they make lots of back ups!
1 person likes this
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
30 Aug 10
I don't think I would pay that price even if I could. I have a copy of the Random House Dictionary, and that is fine for me.
You said it was a 15 or 20 volume set, and I like to read, but not the dictionary and certainly not that much.
1 person likes this
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
30 Aug 10
I am interested in history. Not so much the history of words, but then I never really thought about it. I wouldn't really read a dictionary, but I don't have room to put that many volumes except maybe in my bookcase and I am not sure about there!
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
30 Aug 10
well, it is more of a library thing, one of those things that you really don't need to have at home, but all college libraries (that have a significant English department anyway) should have - in 1973 the Texas Woman's University had 2 copies, the main one in the main library and the older copy in the English department library.
just to let you know, the Library school had their OWN library as well (mostly of children books)
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
30 Aug 10
the OED isn't a "reading" type book, its a tool, and honestly, it isn't a tool for the lay person, but for a more serious writer/English language person
ya know, if I could've found another "History" in the English language department, I might've had a double minor...
@jillmalitz (5131)
• United States
2 Sep 10
I wouldn't pay that kind of money. There are, unfortunately in some ways, to many sources to check spelling or get information. Buy a dictionary, the paper one, or check on line. For the same reason it will be quite a while if ever that I buy a Kindle. I can buy quite a few books for the price of one Kindle. The way the world is going "print" is losing to everything online. We still have to be the final judge and remember pay attention to what we do.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51823)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
29 Aug 10
Hey, I'm still using the 1961 edition of the Little OED my brother had to buy for high school...
1 person likes this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
30 Aug 10
Nobody that I know is that particular about their English, although one of our preachers might come close. Besides being a preacher, he is also an attorney and history buff. I can find more words than I can use in my Webster's New World Dictionary .
1 person likes this
@commanderxo (1494)
• Canada
31 Aug 10
Most likely not.
However, it wouldn't surprise me to see ALL publications go on line sooner or later.
That is to say; NO printed works would be available anywhere, any more.
I think THAT would be a terrible shame.
Chances are it would be only THEN, that we'd experience the biggest black-out ever!
cdrxo
1 person likes this
@commanderxo (1494)
• Canada
1 Sep 10
Those too, are something everyone should make a note of.
cdrxo
1 person likes this
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
7 Sep 10
despite that we live in the computer age and digal age, I see nothering wrong with keeping the oed in print. but I am sure that this master compter thing will have its challenges and expenseces. I have no desiire to pay for the annual fee, I do not use dicnaries that much.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
4 Sep 10
I have a dictionary by my side here always. Dictionaries tend to last me till they fall apart...so far, my current paperback is lasting longer than my previous hard cover with the sewn pages. I like something I can pick up with one hand and flip through easily...that would be a tad difficult with multi volumes.
@blackbriar (9075)
• United States
30 Aug 10
I've never had the OED or don't even think I've even seen it before so I'll just skip it. I don't need it anyways. lol
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
30 Aug 10
I could never spend that much on a dictionary but I remember that when I was growing up it was a valuable learning tool. Granted, I was born in 1954 and the language didn't start to change much till I was in my 40's. My mother used to say "look it up" and I would go to our dictionary and find what a word meant.
I do NOT think that taking it out of print is a good idea. At the minimum, libraries need copies. What happens when some country succeeds in attacking us with an EMP?! No computers, no electronics, no phones, no nothing!! We would need the printed dictionary. This is why I realize that e-readers are nice but we need paper backups. We should always maintain print records of everything.
And I have a soft spot for the dictionary. I have one in my house and intend to always have one. There is no substitution for a dictionary that you can hold and turn pages to look up something you don't know. I miss encyclopedias, too. 
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
30 Aug 10
some where, out in a shed, is a copy (or two) of some encyclopedias... mine's pretty cool for writing Man From UNCLE stories, since its the 1967 version!
yeah, we have some dictionaries around here, finding them isn't the easiest - I know the roomie could probably put her hands on them faster than I could...
can't find her way out of a building, but remembers where she puts her books!
yeah, we have some dictionaries around here, finding them isn't the easiest - I know the roomie could probably put her hands on them faster than I could...
can't find her way out of a building, but remembers where she puts her books!