Eugene H. Ehrlich (1922–2008)

I bought this book figuring I'd maybe browse through it a bit and then sit it on the reference shelf, but Anglophile and lover of language that I am, once I started flipping through it I found it interesting enough that I ended up keeping it out on my kitchen counter and reading it through a page or two at a time over the course of several months.

It is, as the title suggests, a dictionary of British English for Americans. And it really was interesting to peruse, partly because now I am show more finally able to remember whether a Brit means 6:30 or 7:30 when they say "half seven", partly because it was fun and interesting to boggle at some of the differences that made me wonder how on earth we ever manage to communicate with each other at all, partly because it's written with fun little touches of humor, and partly because I found it bemusing to note how many expressions that I find perfectly familiar and natural are flagged here as specifically British, and how many of the American translations weren't familiar and natural-feeling to me. Which is no doubt a testament to how varied America dialects are, and to how much American and British dialects have influenced each other.

Anyway, it seems likely to be very useful for the American reader encountering unfamiliar or confusing British terms. Probably a bit less so for American writers looking to write dialog for British characters effectively, as simply reading the entries surely won't always give you a good idea about who is likely to use the expressions in what contexts (although the author does often include some notes on that sort of thing). There are also appendices at the back covering topics including specialized vocabulary (like cricket terms or parts of a car), weights and measures, weird place name pronunciations, and some general systematic differences between American and British English. All of which made my head spin, skimming through it, but which could be very useful when it's needed, as a lot of it seems like might be hard to figure out how to search for on the internet. show less

I love Latin phrases - especially the way one can say so much with so few words. This little gem of a book includes many useful phrases - both ones in widespread use, and ones with which many people are not familiar but which have great utility. The author decided to omit medical phrases, which is too bad, since many people encounter at least some of those on their pill bottles, but, as he bemoans, one has to draw the line somewhere.

The only quibble one might have with this excellent little show more compendium is the pronunciation guide. On the good side, every part of every word is rendered phonetically. But the author chooses to abide by the pronunciation guidelines he learned in his own studies, pronouncing the C as a K (so for example, instead of sis-er-o for Cicero he would say KIH-keh-roh, or instead of ser-ka for circa he would say KIRH-kah). Also, he sticks with pronouncing the V as if it were W, so for In Vino Veritas he shows the pronunciation as in WEE-noh WAY-rih tahs.

Germanic tongues (including English) pretty much render at least the initial C in a Latin word as S, and V apparently replaced W since the early 3rd Century even in Latin except in academia.

But no matter; the author makes clear at the beginning what his scheme is, and you can substitute your own method ad libitum however you like! show less

Not exactly a book to be read cover to cover, but a fun browser, and an indispensable reference. Especially useful is the English index to phrases - a sort of reverse look up. And the compiler's love of Latin and subtle wit shines through every phrase. Carpe diem, carpe hune librum!

In this era of the internet and Google, one wonders why there would be a need for reference books in print (aside from times of the occasional power outage). But internet sites aren’t always comprehensive or “extraordinarily literate.” In the case of online thesauri, I tend to rely on thesaurus.com. But I check this book as well, because it often has very useful entries not provided on that website. For instance, take the noun “official” meaning “administrator” or show more “dignitary.” This book has terrific synonyms you won’t find at thesaurus.com, such as bashaw, chamberlain, chiaus, Dogberry, Junker, Master of the Revels, Pooh Bah, waldgrave, and so on. For “medicine man,” thesaurus.com has some the book doesn’t, like mundunugu and wangateur, but the book has some the website omits, such as angakok, curandero, and kahuna.

For common words like “interesting,” this book only provides a few synonyms, and you are better off with the web. But for even slightly less common words (like “banker”) and phrases (like “New Testament Books”), this book is still an excellent resource, and includes literary and foreign references not readily provided online. show less