
Are Dictionaries Obsolete in Age of Google?  - peter123
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB125209509231187233.html
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ars
They make dictionaries with the x most common words, and then there are
unabridged dictionaries.

I always thought they should do the opposite: a dictionary with _only_ the
rare words.

Do I really need a dictionary to tell me what "down" means?

Anyone at that level of english is not using a dictionary. So who is the
target audience?

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chaosmachine
A good dictionary will give you more than a definition. Maybe you want to know
the etymology of the word.

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ars
Quite true. But most of those a quite large.

I own one: [http://www.amazon.com/Websters-Encyclopedic-Unabridged-
Dicti...](http://www.amazon.com/Websters-Encyclopedic-Unabridged-Dictionary-
Language/dp/0517150263) it's very big, and heavy.

But something smaller, with just hard words, for when you are reading a book
would be nice.

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zandorg
I use online dictionaries when reading Jack Vance books. I don't think they
are obsolete at all - printed ones are.

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njharman
Bingo!

I totally don't understand why people hold this divide online/offline in their
heads. Things aren't online or offline. __Everything __(for approx values of
everything) is moving online. Dictionaries dead? No, moving online. Newspapers
dead? No, moving online. Social discourse dead? No, moving online.

What's dying are people / companies with heads in sand vainly and stupidly
trying to prevent/slow that move to online. But that's not a sensational,
advertiser friendly title.

btw best dictionary I've found <http://definr.com/dictionary>

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Dilpil
Dictionaries are not obsolete. Google is just a really kick ass dictionary.

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TeHCrAzY
I think the article perhaps means to say printed dictionaries are obsolete in
the face of the new technology.

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joeyo
Spelling is obsolete. I don't even attempt to spell search queries correctly
much of the time anymore. As long as you don't get caught by an accidental
heteronym you are good to go.

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olliesaunders
I don't need to read this to know that dictionaries are not obsolete. I love
the The New Oxford American Dictionary that comes with my Mac. I use it
constantly.

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Gibbon
No mention in the article that you can just do a "define keyword" in google
and get the definition from a couple dozen dictionaries and in any language.

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wyclif
Noah Webster's 1828 or 1913 edition. Nothing else really compares here; in
that time America was in many ways a more literate nation.

<http://machaut.uchicago.edu/websters>

Also the OED on CD, I wish somebody would make the OED web-friendly.

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iterationx
paper is obsolete.

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erlanger
Until the power goes out.

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mcav
At which point a dictionary probably wouldn't be the first thing on your mind.

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erlanger
I don't think I'd immediately launch into a state of panic during a mid-summer
brownout...I'd probably be even more likely to read, which is a time it's nice
to have a thorough dictionary on hand. Also, I don't like the idea of being
separated from references just because Comcast's screwing up again...maybe I
still think like a student.

