Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Dictionary and CD-ROM set, 11th edition, revised 2009 [Hardcover]

I wanted a dictionary of British English to enhance my enjoyment and understanding of British usage in British lit. and DVDs. An English prof. recommended the Concise OED, so I bought it. It's a subset of the great OED, about the same size as Webster's Collegiate. It has the expected British spellings plus words not in Websters, e.g., "bollocks" and "Sassenach." Some of its descriptions are more complete or specific than Webster's, e.g., "back bencher" and "ha-ha." The type size/legibility is comparable to Webster's. It's a great adjunct to my Webster's for the use I'm making of it.

There are many dictionaries in that size available in the market, but few have the same level of detail and conciseness found on this one. The two-volume version of the Oxford dictionary is a better dictionary in terms of number of entries and definitions per entry, but carrying two huge volumes is a major inconvenience.

If you are willing to carry only a compact single volume dictionary, this dictionary is certainly a good choice. This edition has been revised in 2008. The paper in thin, but seems to be capable of resisting tear and wear. The only feature missing is a thumb index.

As a desktop reference, this dictionary has no peer. Compared to other dictionaries of similar size, it is simply the best by a long shot. It is authoritative enough to have its definitions used in a court of law. The Editors tell us it contains 75,000 root words compared to the usual 25,000 root words, because infrequent and rare words are likely to be crucial in particular contexts when they crop up. No wonder I have never had the frustrating experience of a futile search for a word when using previous editions.

Each succeeding edition brings to it changes in format. The current 11th 2008 revised edition has all supplementary material relocated from the back end to the "Centre Section" after the letter "L". It is not the first dictionary to do this, but its 24-page "Centre Section" makes fascinating reading.

1. English Uncovered. Benefits of data collected by Oxford are divulged. The list of 100 commonest words revealed are "the" #1, "I" #10, to "us" #100. Lists of commonest nouns, verbs and adjectives are included. Interesting trivia includes the words with most meanings as "set" (156), "stand" (104) and "fall" (101). Subtle shifts in spelling include "just deserts" to "just desserts" (58% actual usage); buck naked 53% to butt naked 47%; and "strait-laced" being overwhelmed by 66% actual use of "straight-laced". "Miniscule" changes are overtaking correct forms like "Minuscule".

2. Fascinating words. Absquatulate, adscititious, afreet start this 4 page list. "callipygian" having shapely buttocks, "ecdysiast" strip tease performer, "vexillology" study of flags, "toxophilite" archery student, join words like ylem, sudd, flews, stiction, plew and yes, floccinaucinihilipilification and pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. I am fascinated.

3. Collective nouns. The usual "pride" of lions, "fling" of dunlins, "murmuration" of starlings, "school" of whales, is usefully retained, although it could be more exhaustive.

4. Imitative Words. 2 pages of onomatopoeias. I have not come across such a list in an Oxford. Vroom, whoosh, zoom.

5. Foreign Words and Phrases. This is an extremely useful list of frequently encountered foreign terms. The absence of a connected pronouncing key is a most regrettable omission, as this is precisely where a pronouncing key would be most appreciated. Nothing fancy, and nobody would argue the inclusion of: a cappella, alfresco, au fait, je ne sais quoi, ménage a trios, schadenfreude, verboten and zeitgeist. Delightful section.

6. Guide to Good English. Same old, same old.

There are more "Usage" bubbles in this edition. After "discreet", a tinted bubble explains the difference with "discrete". It is "Fowler's Modern English Usage" appended to the apposite words. Naturally, there are more words and material with every new edition. I suspect the similar number of pages as the preceding edition was achieved by reducing the font size of the print. For the huge number of entries, there would be no examples of usage in sentences, nor any illustrations. The International Phonetic Transcription is used and is consistent with its increasing popularity over the Merriam Webster pronouncing key.

Etymology is the best I have seen. Curiously, "Viagra", reputed to be a portmanteau of "virility" and "Niagra" (fluids emanating like Niagra Falls is hopeful optimism) in the 10th 2002 edition, reverted to "unknown origin" in the 11th 2008 edition. The commonly encountered "Cialis" (CIncinnati/MinneApoLIS) is not yet recognised by Oxford.

This dictionary sounds almost too good to be true. Bear with me as I explore possible shortcomings.

The Concise Oxford is not for students of English. It is for those who are way, way, way past the early learning stage. This sterling reference work is quite unsatisfactory as a learning tool. It is more of an aide-memoire and for quick reference when wandering into unfamiliar disciplines. The Paperback Oxford or the Oxford Advanced Learner's would better serve students. Collins, Cambridge, Longman, Chambers, MacMillan and other competitors publish dictionaries with the specific aim of educating students, replete with examples of usage, mnemonics, pictures, and so on. Some throw in a thesaurus.

My 2002 Concise Oxford has these supplementary materials, now deleted from this 2008 edition:
1. Countries of the World, capital cities, currencies, etc,
2. Alphabets (Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Russian),
3. Accents and diacritical marks,
4. Phonetic Alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie to Zulu,
5. Weights and measures, British and American and metric conversions,
6. Metric prefixes, like nano-, pico-, femto-, atto-,
7. SI units
8. Proofreading marks,
9. List of two letter words, like "mu", "re" (musical note), "ye",
10. Words with Q not followed by U, like tariqa, qiviut,
11. SMS abbreviations, emoticons.

Some dictionaries include a map of the world, Nobel Prize winners, Famous People, Common Proverbs; but this may be going over the top. Really, where else can you realistically expect to find such handy nuggets of critical information at your fingertips other than your desktop dictionary. A small investment of 20 to 30 additional pages to the Concise Oxford will fix these omissions found in various previous editions.

Various previous editions of the Oxford had different combinations of these useful Dictionary-related appendices:
1. The Periodic Table, chemical symbols with atomic numbers and weights, (useful for following "Breaking Bad" TV series),
2. Books of the Bible,
3. Geologic Table, placing words like "Jurassic", "Silurian" in context,
4. Common Geometric formulas,
5. Musical notations, dynamics, indicators and Orchestral layout,
6. States of the United States, capital, informal name (North Dakota, Bismarck, Peace Garden), and similarly for Canada, South Africa, Australia, even India,
7. Braille, Morse Code, Manual alphabet for the hearing impaired,
8. Presidents of the United States of America (the one after this publication is Obama :), and the President after Obama might still make it to the next edition), Kings and Queens of England and the UK, Prime Ministers of important countries
9. The Solar System, principal moons; Taxonomy,
10. Zodiac Signs, Chinese Zodiac (2010 is the year of the Tiger), Wedding Anniversaries, birthstones.

A list of Shakespeare's works, Greek and Roman deities, and a tabulation of military ranks would be welcome.

Compared to 1700 pages, the addition of principal appendices would take up another 20 to 30 pages, tops. Some words make more sense in the context of lists, charts, tables and diagrams, yet we would still be nowhere inching towards an encyclopaedia.

This Concise Oxford is printed in UK. The paper looks cheap compared to older editions with sturdier paper. Yet my yellow marker highlightings cannot be seen from the reverse pages. The binding gets shoddier with each edition. If it remains on the desktop, it will come to little harm. It has a Bargain edition feel to it, and it does not inspire confidence that it will last a lifetime - until the next edition perhaps. Bring it around, as in a school bag, and its gradual destruction is assured. Far cheaper dictionaries from other publishers feel more solid, with paper much more pleasing to touch.

If "Concise" led to the notion that this dictionary is small, check the dimensions, as it is larger than expected. Very few books are two and a half inches thick. I would like to see the inclusion of more supplementary material so it will be the only reference book on my cluttered desktop.

In spite of perceived shortcomings, the Concise Oxford is the one I want to occupy that precious real estate on my desktop.

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