Jessie Coulson (1903–1987)

Those who urge you to throw away your old dictionary and stick with the most modern are mad, mad, mad! This is the best dictionary I have so far and I am so delighted with it. I need a dictionary to look up words I don't know, and to give subtle shadings of words I do know. This dictionary does that far better than my 1975 and 2002 dictionaries (which admittedly are shorter editions), and gives words that have fallen out of the newest in favour of "trackpants" and the like. Using the three show more together is an education in the evolution not only of words but of our view of them. Just a wonderful book. So pleased I found it. show less

(Reviewing the 1955 3rd ed. rev.) This is old and the definitions of naughty words are circumlocutional at best. However, it has marvelous things like explanations of emphatic "shall," and, being abridged, it does not require a magnifying glass to read the etymologies and first usages, which are the best part of any Oxford dictionary. It's also big enough to be used for a booster chair.

Small but perfectly formed! This little dictionary has served me well for years. It's very portable, has both Russian to English and Russian to English sections, and has enough headwords to get by in most translation situations that don't require either dialect words or technical language. Mind you,it does include the Russian for Drifting Radio Weather-Station, and you never know when that's going to come in handy.

somewhat out of date. Entries are too short for useful information (in general), and too few to be comprehensive. Useful as a children's reference