The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate (Highly Selective Reference)

Editorial Reviews. leondumoulin.nl Review. In The Highly Selective Dictionary for the The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate (Highly Selective Reference) - Kindle edition by Eugene Ehrlich. Download it once and read it.
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To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Sep 29, Mara rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Logophiles, and loathers of cacologies.

Nay, I have not. Do not confuse impracticable with impractical, which means unwise or not practical and is used most often to denote unrealistic behavior in the management of one's finances. So, while it's rare for me to disagree with the author of my favorite dictionary Ambrose Bierce and his Devil's Dictionary , I must say that this is a book that any logophile could love.

View all 12 comments. Mar 12, Sara rated it really liked it Shelves: Doesn't claim to be a comprehensive dictionary, but only to give those words that are often confused and misused.

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Plus lots I feel as if I should use "a plethora" just to honor the book of words that aren't used nearly as often as they should be. Jan 24, Valerie added it. I picked this up on a whim, though I was dubious.


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Reading the preface, my reservations were confirmed. I have never approved of prescriptive dictionaries, grammars, etc. If I want to use the passive or subjunctive modes, I'll bloody well do so. And I never had any difficulty pronouncing 'nuclear', bearing in mind Walt Kelly's comment that it wasn't new and it wasn't clear. Nor do I have any problem with dictionaries defining quotidian words and yes, this word is included.

Who doesn't know what I picked this up on a whim, though I was dubious. Who doesn't know what a door is? Someone whose native language uses a different root for the same term, perhaps? And when trying to figure out more complex words, it helps to have the root for ordinary words. This book doesn't have many roots, which too often leaves the reader at a loss in trying to explain WHY the word means what it does.

Also, in common with many 'unabridged' dictionaries, it's lacking many words one WOULD like a definition of two examples spring at once to mind: But in most cases, it wouldn't help just to list and define the word, anyway. I have to say, by the way, that I find statistics about vocabularies inherently suspicious.

While I had encountered many of the words I've encountered so far in this book in some sources and often didn't know what they meant exactly, except from context; but as often I did know , I have to say that vocabulary assumptions vary by orders of magnitude depending on defining assumptions do you include all the conjugate forms of a verb as one word, for example? How about declensions of nouns?

The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate

Are adjectival or adverbial forms separate words? I should also point out that there's at least one anglocentric or it may just be chauvinistic regarding Indo-European words in general assumption: In fact some languages are verb-based Acoma Kerasun, for example, has no nouns at all.

There are only verbs and participles, and 'nouns' are essentially established by inflection of verbs and participles: I'll read this through It's a fast read, and shouldn't take too long. But as of the end of the Bs, I'd say it will make a handier reference for the things it DOES cover than the weightlifter's edition of the 'unabridged' dictionary Even in the actual entries there's far too much speaking in the second person.

I never could abide being patronized. Nor do I care what 'editors' want. I've always tended to despise editors, and when I heard Harriet Vane Wimsey in Busman's Honeymoon refer to editors as 'ghouls and cannibals' for all it's a little redundant , I found words for an opinion I'd always held. It's useful to make distinctions between similar words, to express nuances in meaning.

Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate : Eugene Ehrlich :

But many of those distinctions are a posteriori, which may be one of the reasons that etymological information is not given. Many of the distinctions that are listed herein are not older than the 18th century. They developed as spellings were standardized, and represented divergence in meaning in words of the exact same derivation eg 'coven' and 'convent', both of which came from the root 'convene'--'come together'.

Many of them are technical terms 'transilience'; 'bradyons', 'luxons', and 'tachyons' come at once to mind. Some I don't expect to find. I have to look up 'heteroscedasticity' every time I refer to it, because I never remember what it means random ranges in variables, looks like. On the other hand, while it's useful to have a definition of 'hebdomadal' weekly , I would also have appreciated a definition of 'sabbatical' which explains why professors still think it's a good plan to take every seventh YEAR off as well as every seventh day it's biblical.

It's just that the professors have retained this plan. As a reference book, I won't keep this as a bedside reference. Just irritating and incomplete. May 26, Jimmy rated it really liked it Shelves: A dictionary with the easy words eliminated. You can actually read the whole thing, like I did. The only thing it lacks is a bit of fun along the way. The Preface had an interesting story about defining the word "door" in a dictionary. Jun 19, Olive rated it it was amazing. Dec 15, Elizabeth rated it it was ok.

Dictionaries are always useful to have, kind of like having a color wheel in Photoshop instead of just a select square palette -- it gives you more options. I think my favorite part of this one, though, is the addendum under criterion warning rather sarcastically that people will "eagerly seize upon unfamiliar words and phrases, which somehow are thought to invest our thoughts with the appearance of learnedness.


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    5. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. We can notify you when this item is back in stock. Professor Sir Roy Goode. Home Contact Us Help Free delivery worldwide. Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate. Description Between TV talk shows, radio call-in programs, email and the Internet, spontaneous-talk media has skyrocketed in the '90s. People are interacting more frequently and more fervently than ever before, turning the English language into an indecipherable mess.

    Now, this unique and concise compendium presents the most confused and misused words in the language today -- words misused by careless speakers and writers everywhere. It defines, discerns and distinguishes the finer points of sense and meaning. Was it fortuitous or only fortunate?

    Are you trying to remember, or more fully recollect? Is he uninterested or disinterested?

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    Is it healthful or healthy, regretful or regrettable, notorious or infamous? The answers to these and many more fascinating etymological questions can be found within the pages of this invaluable or is it valuable? Product details Format Hardback pages Dimensions People who bought this also bought. Depraved and Insulting English Peter Novobatzky. The Thinker's Thesaurus Peter E. A Word a Day Suti Garg. The Lexicon William F. The Describer's Dictionary Ellen S.

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