McCabe’s Week : Dictionaries

English dictionaries are almost as ubiquitous as shoes in Germany and, like shoes, come in all shapes and sizes.

Some try to grab your attention with shrill green and yellow covers. Want to hear my top ten tips when it comes to choosing a good dictionary? One, go for the monolingual variety. Bilingual dictionaries will waste twice the headspace and delay your lexical flexibility indefinitely. Two, buy a hardback and dump the flashy jacket. At least that way you can keep face while imbibing the contents on public transport. Three, check the book for phrasal verbs. Many dictionaries are surprisingly lacking in coverage on these vital business idioms. Four, check the edition’s first publication date (not its last reprint). This should be no longer than five years ago. Tip number five, check out the lexicon for new entries such as ‘humongous’, ‘spam’ and ‘space out.’ This will show you how in touch the book really is. Six, never buy a dictionary which you could not imagine carrying around in your briefcase. Seven, watch out for short word histories. As a German speaker, seeing familiar cognates will make learning English twice as recognizable and psychologically cosy. Eight, look out for help with linguistic register. Much written English is far too formal for the kind of daily spoken usage you need to brush up on. Nine, get into the habit of reading your dictionary in the bath. Don’t just take it out during emergencies. Ten, don’t always believe what you read ;-). Write to: [e-mail]

Some try to grab your attention with shrill green and yellow covers. Want to hear my top ten tips when it comes to choosing a good dictionary? One, go for the monolingual variety. Bilingual dictionaries will waste twice the headspace and delay your lexical flexibility indefinitely. Two, buy a hardback and dump the flashy jacket. At least that way you can keep face while imbibing the contents on public transport. Three, check the book for phrasal verbs. Many dictionaries are surprisingly lacking in coverage on these vital business idioms. Four, check the edition’s first publication date (not its last reprint). This should be no longer than five years ago. Tip number five, check out the lexicon for new entries such as ‘humongous’, ‘spam’ and ‘space out.’ This will show you how in touch the book really is. Six, never buy a dictionary which you could not imagine carrying around in your briefcase. Seven, watch out for short word histories. As a German speaker, seeing familiar cognates will make learning English twice as recognizable and psychologically cosy. Eight, look out for help with linguistic register. Much written English is far too formal for the kind of daily spoken usage you need to brush up on. Nine, get into the habit of reading your dictionary in the bath. Don’t just take it out during emergencies. Ten, don’t always believe what you read ;-). Write to: [e-mail]

Some try to grab your attention with shrill green and yellow covers. Want to hear my top ten tips when it comes to choosing a good dictionary? One, go for the monolingual variety. Bilingual dictionaries will waste twice the headspace and delay your lexical flexibility indefinitely. Two, buy a hardback and dump the flashy jacket. At least that way you can keep face while imbibing the contents on public transport. Three, check the book for phrasal verbs. Many dictionaries are surprisingly lacking in coverage on these vital business idioms. Four, check the edition’s first publication date (not its last reprint). This should be no longer than five years ago. Tip number five, check out the lexicon for new entries such as ‘humongous’, ‘spam’ and ‘space out.’ This will show you how in touch the book really is. Six, never buy a dictionary which you could not imagine carrying around in your briefcase. Seven, watch out for short word histories. As a German speaker, seeing familiar cognates will make learning English twice as recognizable and psychologically cosy. Eight, look out for help with linguistic register. Much written English is far too formal for the kind of daily spoken usage you need to brush up on. Nine, get into the habit of reading your dictionary in the bath. Don’t just take it out during emergencies. Ten, don’t always believe what you read ;-). Write to: [e-mail]

Some try to grab your attention with shrill green and yellow covers. Want to hear my top ten tips when it comes to choosing a good dictionary? One, go for the monolingual variety. Bilingual dictionaries will waste twice the headspace and delay your lexical flexibility indefinitely. Two, buy a hardback and dump the flashy jacket. At least that way you can keep face while imbibing the contents on public transport. Three, check the book for phrasal verbs. Many dictionaries are surprisingly lacking in coverage on these vital business idioms. Four, check the edition’s first publication date (not its last reprint). This should be no longer than five years ago. Tip number five, check out the lexicon for new entries such as ‘humongous’, ‘spam’ and ‘space out.’ This will show you how in touch the book really is. Six, never buy a dictionary which you could not imagine carrying around in your briefcase. Seven, watch out for short word histories. As a German speaker, seeing familiar cognates will make learning English twice as recognizable and psychologically cosy. Eight, look out for help with linguistic register. Much written English is far too formal for the kind of daily spoken usage you need to brush up on. Nine, get into the habit of reading your dictionary in the bath. Don’t just take it out during emergencies. Ten, don’t always believe what you read ;-). Write to: [e-mail]