E. S. C. Weiner

I love this dictionary. Sometimes I flip it open and read it just for fun, peering down at the page with my funky replacement magnifying glass (having lost the sleek one which came standard, tucked into its very own drawer), reading about the histories of my favorite words or finding new ones that I'll probably never have any occasion to use. This dictionary also makes an excellent end table, if you're not the sort of person who is bothered by coffee rings to your books. Mine looks like crap show more - battered and stained, scuffed on all sides from repeated moves. It's a set made to be used - sturdy binding, clear type, table-sized slipcase, handy drawer for stuff - and that just makes me love it more. In fact (and I realize that by now I am starting to sound a little insane), we have two copies in our house. People think this is excessive, but what if something happened to one of them? Better to have a spare, just in case.
Yes. I love this dictionary. show less

Please note: there are TWO different Compact Editions. Most know about the two-volume reprint of the original 1928 edition of the dictionary, with the pages reduced to fit four on a page. But there is a more recent ONE-volume reprint of the 1989 Second Edition--a massive volume the size of an atlas, but three times as thick, with the pages made even smaller so as to fit NINE on a page, and with an even more powerful magnifier. This is the one I have, and it is one of my most prized show more possessions.

I have gained more pleasure out of browsing its forest of near-microscopic type than with any other reference book I've ever encountered. It is utterly exhaustive; it is absolutely authoritative; it is stunningly beautifully written. Nobody who loves the English language should be without one.

The only barrier for most people will be its extremely high cost--but, as this is the product of over 120 years of intense work by hundreds of dedicated people, the cost is well worth it. I have free access to the online version through the library, but because I love to browse, I still insisted on a print version, any print version. And now I will be enjoying this book for the rest of my life.

If you love English, and especially if you write for a living, you absolutely MUST own the OED. Beg, steal, borrow, spend weeks trawling through eBay, do whatever you have to do, but get it. You will NOT be sorry. show less

This was an interesting book that should interest people who like reading about reading and the OED. The authors are current editors of the OED, which Tolkien spent two years working on in its first edition, which makes for an interesting perspective. The basic idea is to look at Tolkien as a philologist and to examine how he used and created words and how those words played a role in creating Middle-Earth. The most canonical example is that of Ents: Tolkien first knew the word as an Old show more English word for 'giant' and then created Ents and that whole corner of his world to fit the word. The book also interestingly points out the many new layers of meaning that Tolkien gave to the elements of his world through the linguistic resonances of the words he "invented" from ancient, dis-used roots. There is a whole level of subtle puns and linguistic meaning that informs Lord of the Rings that goes largely unnoticed to those unfamiliar with the ancient languages that Tolkien lived and breathed.

This was a good book, although it had its flaws, too. It read more like a long journal article than a book, and the first section- on the work Tolkien actually did for the dictionary- was relatively uninformative. The final section is a collection of word studies of the origins of Tolkien's words , and that was very interesting. Overall I'd give it 4 stars, or perhaps a bit less, since the writing style was not very engaging. show less

Without doubt the greatest lexical achievement produced thus far and probably the best printed dictionary that will ever be (since it'll all be just internets from here on out). Beautifully made, cleanly written, and tremendously researched. Fun just to leaf through, definitive in settling disagreements this is a book more people should spend more time with, myself included.