Originally written by Genevieve Shaw on February 6, 2009 4:33 PM I would tend to agree with you. My query, though, is how can you be sure what you find on the Internet is accurate? Best, Genevieve

As in genealogy, the only remedy against inaccurate information is to double- or triple-check what you have at hand.  I also always consider the source, e.g. a specialised website (patents) will certainly be more accurate than a general online dictionary when it comes to (very) technical terms.  And there still are those old-fashioned paper dictionaries, even if the highly praised and high-priced "Ernst" can become a source of errors!

Laurent K.

Hi, Everyone!

I'm of the "old school"-like an old-time academic, I love sitting at a big oak library table, surrounded by multilingual (and a good monolingual) dictionaries, general or specialized. I use these tomes much more than I use the Internet, but then I don't find myself all that much in need of either alternative, if the truth be told.

At least one of the very frequent participants in TCTerms, on this website,  incessantly berates my contributions when I indicate it is a translation I found in a dictionary. Oh, well! My clients don't seem to be complaining!

Have a good evening!

Barbara

I object to the unfettered use of BILINGUAL dictionaries over Monolingual Ones. Your allusion is obviously to me. And I don't mind saying it again:

It is best to understand source documents in the context, their co-text and then in terms of a monolingual dictionary, should one not know a term. Then, one tries to say to oneself, oh yes, in English, that is X. Or one translates the meaning of the monolingual dictionary and sees if the answer pops up in one's head in one's own language.

Bilingual dictionaries must be used with extreme discretion.  There are many instances where you post the bilingual dictionary answer to the detriment of the co-text, context ,cultural use of a term and monolingual meaning, and your answer is incorrect.

So, of course, I use a spate of monolingual dictionaries for my combinations all the time when there are some tricky technical terms.. And occasionaly check to see what a bilingual dictionary says.
 For general language terms, I simply do not need bilingual dictionaries very often. And that is why I in TC terms I often quote the monolingual dictionary and then provide my answer. Is that clear now? 

Most translation schools advocate this procedure for translators; that is the dictionary technique they teach. If one is overusing a general bilingual dictionary, I'm afraid it means one doesn't know the language very well.  

Jacek: I have this message I would be delighted to have Jesse deliver to the OED for me: I live and breathe that dictionary. It is the most marvelous resource on the English langauge.

I have one published about ten years ago, the two volume.

I had a subcription for Three Years to the OED, and this year could not afford the 300.00 dollars US it costs for the Online Subscription. I would think that after one year, the OED might consider bringing down that price. I paid them 900.000 over three years. They should have some special discount for repeat users. I mean it really is excessively expensive even though if I had the cash, I'd pay it.

So, if they don't want to go the way of the auto makers, they should consider bringing down the price to incividuals who are translators, writers, editors etc. and who do not have an institution backing them.  THey would still come out ahead, and so would "us" translators.

Your original question is therefore a bit odd for me. Because if one wants to keep up with what is going on, and their new entries, one must have an online subscription to those twenty-four - or is it twenty seven? - volumes. Right?

Jane,

The majority of my dictionaries are bilingual.  They are quality specialized dictionaries.  Having said that, I also know how to use them.  I do not translate material that I do not have a reasonable assurance of also understanding.  This means I also know how to weigh the value of dictionary entries, their context and so forth.  A dictionary cannot replace knowledge and experience in a field.  They should also always be used with caution and not as a unique and undisputed source. How do others feel?

Maxi

Hi   Abdallah,

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

Kind regards,

Nevin

Originally written by Jane Lamb-Ruiz on February 10, 2009 8:49 PM Your original question is therefore a bit odd for me. Because if one wants to keep up with what is going on, and their new entries, one must have an online subscription to those twenty-four - or is it twenty seven? - volumes. Right?

Hi, Jane,

Here is a related example.  A question was asked the other day in TCT on how to say deuterated in Spanish. Google has hundreds of links to "cloroformo deuterado" which was the context and yet my answer was contested on the grounds that it does not exist in RAE.

As you know I only have the shorter OED, so could you do me a favor and look up "deuterated" in your OED? And once you are there, could you also look up "chrematonymy" (Post #171791)? I hope both terms are there, but should you be using an OED edition where either ot hem is not, would we authoritatively conclude that they are unacceptable in English because OED does not list them? What about all the scholarly papers using them?

Jacek

I had a very pleasant surprise today.

Polish dictionaries are incredibly cheap. I like that, I do! But I cannot understand how do the Polish manage making that so... I`ts a heluva job, making dictionaries, and dictionaries just have to be expensive!

Jacek?

Oops! I mean, the dictionaries are cheap when bought in Poland. Those I buy in my country are as expensive as or more expensive than those published in my country...

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on May 5, 2009 3:11 PM I had a very pleasant surprise today. Polish dictionaries are incredibly cheap. I like that, I do! But I cannot understand how do the Polish manage making that so... I`ts a heluva job, making dictionaries, and dictionaries just have to be expensive! Jacek?

Which dictionaries did you mean, Dodo. Polish-English, Polish-Lithuanian, if there is one like that. Do they have any good legal dictionaries, Polish-English. The dictionaries are cheap, because the Polish zloty is low right now, I think.