思考与写作jsomers.net
你可能一直在用错词典
You’re probably using the wrong dictionary (2014)
2019 — 2021,它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页(≥ 50 分)的那次投稿,空心点是没冲上去的投稿,点越大分数越高。
导读
作者认为大多数人用的现代词典(如 Merriam-Webster 在线版)释义干瘪、例句贫乏,而 1913 年版的《韦氏词典》释义详尽、例句丰富,能真正加深对词汇的理解。文章通过多个词条对比展示了老词典的魅力,并推荐读者用它来提升写作和阅读体验。
为什么经久不衰:它把'查词典'这件小事讲出了深度,多年来反复登上首页,至今仍是关于如何真正理解语言的经典推荐。
HN 评论精选
Wiktionary 已收录老韦氏词典并持续更新,是最佳在线替代品,但用来背单词时释义过多反而不便。
幸好 Wiktionary 整体导入了公版的老韦氏词典,保留了同样的丰富释义和例句,还更新了现代用法和更近的文学、新闻引文。我为桌面浏览器准备了三种快速查询 Wiktionary 的方式,还做了个 Firefox 移动版扩展来一键查词。不过用 Wiktionary 学生词有点难:一长串释义放在 Anki 卡片上并不好用,我还没学到最核心的那个义项。看来得导入一本更简单的词典如牛津,再在需要时手动补充细微差别。另外我一直没找到一本像样且好用的同义词词典,目前用 thesaurus.com 加 Wiktionary 互补。
aasasd查看英文原文
Thankfully Wiktionary imported wholesale the old Webster's dictionary (due partly to it being in the public domain). It has the same multitude of meanings and examples, including those from the article. On top, of course, it's updated for very modern language and with quotations from literature and journalism closer to us in time. Which is why I have three different methods for quick lookup in Wiktionary in the desktop browser, and whipped up an extension for FF mobile to look up the selection with one tap. Wiktionary's definition of ‘pathos’ omits the first variant from Webster's, however I'd say I've never seen it used in that meaning and it sounds more like the original Greek sense. (Though the relation to ‘ethos’ should probably be mentioned.) Alas, for my love to Wiktionary, I'm having trouble learning less-familiar words with it, because I'm hoping to use Anki for that purpose. Turns out, a scroll of different meanings is no good as an answer on a flash card since I'm yet to learn just the most prominent one. All points to me importing a simpler dictionary like the Oxford, and manually fiddling with subtler meanings where I need them. I'm yet to find a thesaurus which would be as comprehensive and usable, with notes on the differences in meanings. For now, I'm employing thesaurus.com plus Wiktionary lookups—the thesaurus somehow just has more stuff and shades of meanings than other online ones, including established names like Merriam-Webster.
这篇文章直接催生了多个把老韦氏词典做成 App 的项目,说明它影响力持久。
2014 年这篇文章启发我写了个 iOS 应用。我花了几个周末把精力都放在排版和可读性上,结果工作一忙就搁置了,几周变几月、几月变几年。去年回来时 Xcode 已经编译不了了。我也发现市面上已有不少同类应用,但大多数对原始数据的解析和排版都做得很差,所以我还是把它发布了。
blago查看英文原文
Back in 2014, this article inspired me to write an iOS app. I took a few weekends putting most of my efforts into formatting and readability. Just when I was ready to release, I got really busy at work. Weeks became months, and months became years. By the time I got back to it last year, Xcode wouldn't compile it anymore. To my dismay, I also discovered that a number of other apps had been launched. After fretting a bit, I realized that most of the competition had done a poor job parsing the raw data and formatting the text. So I released it anyway. Feel free to give it a try and let me know what you think: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1397172520
纸质大词典同样有翻阅的乐趣,OED 紧凑版是绝佳选择。
我最珍爱的藏品之一是《牛津英语词典》紧凑版——把多卷本 OED 缩印成两卷共约 4000 页(附赠一个带放大镜的抽屉盒)。几年前我在 eBay 上几乎没花钱就买到了。虽然不是每天都用,但它正像文章描述的那样,适合随手翻阅、激发灵感。
Veen查看英文原文
One of my favourite possessions is The Compact Edition Of The Oxford English Dictionary, which is the complete text of the multi-volume OED shrunk down into two volumes totalling about 4000 pages (it comes in a case with a drawer for a magnifying glass). I got it for next to nothing on eBay a few years ago. I don’t use it every day but it’s wonderful for browsing and inspiration in the way this article describes. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-compact-oxford-english-dictionary-9780198612582?cc=gb&lang=en& This is the single-volume second edition. Mine is the two-volume first edition.
反对用生僻词替换常用词,认为这只会让文章显得矫揉造作。
我非常不同意这篇文章,尤其是'第四稿'的做法——把写好的文字里所有'平庸'的词都换成词典里更生僻的词。我见过这类作者,读起来很痛苦,满是做作。你总能看出谁在假装词汇量大。
suction查看英文原文
I couldn't disagree more with this piece, especially the idea of a "draft #4" where you go through what you've written and replace all "pedestrian" words with less common ones from the dictionary. I know these writers, and how they "write" - it's painful to read and oozes pretentiousness. You can always tell when someone tries to fake having a wider vocabulary.
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