Get Cozy With Your Dictionary
Kathryn Wilkens -- July 31, 2007
I adore dictionaries. I love their speckled pages and thumb tabs with gold letters; I love their heft and smell, their ordered contents. I didn't set out to collect them, but when I rearranged my bookshelves recently I discovered I have 47 -- I own more dictionaries than shoes!
But you won't need that many. Even one good, up-to-date dictionary is an important asset for a writer. I know you have one. Are you using it to full advantage?
Most writers use a dictionary as an authority, grabbing it off the shelf when they need to find a definition, a synonym or the correct inflected form (Is it dived or dove? Scarfs or scarves?) But dictionaries are also fascinating repositories of language. I love to go word-shopping as if I were at the mall, just to see what interesting tidbits I can discover. For example, I'll open to a random page. Here's a word I've never heard before: numbles, certain of the inward parts of an animal used for food. Here's one I haven't thought of since visiting Alaska a few years ago: nunatak, a hill surrounded by a glacier. And here's one I've heard and read but never used: numen, a divine power or spirit. All interesting words, and who knows? I may use them in a future article or essay.
A good dictionary will also tell you the etymology, or origin, of each word, revealing a deeper level of meaning. Did you know orchid comes from the word for testicles? That when you slurp up pasta called vermicelli you're eating "little worms?" Or that the mastodon, literally, "breast tooth," was named for the nipple-like projections found on its teeth?
Etymologies are practical as well as interesting. When I was working on an article about journal writing, I looked up the etymology of journal and found it came from Latin diurnus meaning "daily." So did the word journey. I concluded my essay with a comparison of keeping a journal and taking a journey. By learning the derivation of a few key words in your story, you may see connections you hadn't thought of before.
Make an investment in your writing future
Check the copyright date of your dictionary. Was it published in this century? Are you still using the one you took to college? It might be time to upgrade. In fact, instead of buying another pair of shoes, why not treat yourself to a new dictionary? You'll be able to "walk around" in it long after the shoes would be out of fashion!
With so many dictionaries on the market, how should you choose one? Forget pocket or paperback dictionaries. They don't have enough words and features for a serious writer. At the other extreme, The Oxford English Dictionary is fine if you have plenty of money and want to furnish a room. The cheapest price I've found is $895 for the 20-volume set.
You'll probably decide between an unabridged dictionary and a collegiate-sized one. An unabridged will be expensive--about the price of a good pair of dress shoes. And it takes up space; you're more likely to use it if you have enough room to keep it open on a table. A collegiate is cheaper--less than a pair of tennis shoes--and easier to pluck off the shelf.
Once you've found books in your price range, look at each one critically. Is the paper sturdy enough to withstand heavy use? How about size and readability of print? Read the table of contents to see if it has the extra features you want, such as an atlas, style handbook, commonly confused words, a history of English, foreign phrases, or signs and symbols.
Check to make sure it has etymologies and notes on usage. Is it up-to-date? See if it contains recent coinages like agritourism, ringtone and spyware.
Do some of the words have usage labels such as informal, slang, baby talk, offensive, or disparaging? These labels are good guides to word choice. A few words even have more than one label. In my dictionary, for example, the word snot is labeled informal if it refers to a disrespectful person and vulgar if it refers to mucus from the nose.
Is a date given for the word's earliest recorded use? If you write historical fiction, knowing when a word entered the language will help you avoid anachronisms. For example, schizophrenia, scrounge and spotlight date from the early 1900s. Characters in a nineteenth century setting wouldn't use these terms.
Once you've narrowed your search to two choices, open them, say, to the first page of F and compare. Note what words are included and how clear and concise the definitions are.
My favorite dictionary is The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (now called Random House Webster's) published in 1987. I keep it open next to my keyboard. It's outdated, so every few years I buy the annually-updated Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. When I come across unfamiliar words in historical novels, I haul out my Webster's New International Dictionary from 1930--it contains hundreds of obscure words that have been dropped from modern dictionaries.
I also love The American Heritage Dictionary. Color illustrations on every page make it fun to browse. I trust the usage notes because its large panel of experts includes writers I admire: Pat Conroy, Louise Erdrich, Jamaica Kincaid and William Zinsser, to name a few. It comes with a CD version I can pop into my computer when I want to hear how a word sounds; I click on the speaker icon and a man's or woman's voice enunciates the word. The CD also has a handy search function. Say I'm writing a limerick and want to use 6-letter words ending in -oon. I type in ???oon and it instantly returns a word list including baboon, maroon and raccoon.
Printed dictionary vs. cyber-dictionary
Do you even need to buy a book when you can access a dictionary on-line, type in a word and get an instant definition? On-line dictionaries require no desk or shelf space. Because new words can be added at any time, they don't become obsolete. You can hear how the word is pronounced and you can search for words using various criteria.
Still, I prefer a book. It's portable. I can look words up even if there's a power outage. I like the feeling of ownership; if I own the dictionary, all the words inside belong to me. Plus, I always come across interesting words as I turn pages to zero in on the one I intended to look up. It's like taking a road trip to another city instead of landing at the airport. It may take a little longer, but you enjoy the sights along the way.
So many dictionaries; so little time
There are many other useful dictionaries besides the standard ones. Most writers already have a thesaurus or a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. A usage dictionary answers questions about the nuances of English; because it's alphabetical, I find it easier to use than a standard grammar book. A reverse dictionary is great for retrieving those words you can't quite dredge up from memory. What's that carving on the bow of a ship called? Look under "ship" to find it: figurehead.
If you write song lyrics, you may refer to a rhyming dictionary. If you're a travel writer, you may have dual-language dictionaries for the countries you visit. If you write fictional dialogue, you may use a slang dictionary. A visual dictionary is full of photographs and cutaway drawings with each component labeled; a nonfiction writer, especially one who writes for children, would find such a book beneficial.
If you write nonfiction, chances are good that a specialized lexicon exists for your favorite subjects: art, astronomy, bioethics, birds, costumes, horticulture, Judaism, law, medicine, wine and hundreds of others. Fiction writers might find these helpful too. If your main character plays the oboe, for example, you could find enough information in a dictionary of musical terms to add authentic details to your descriptions and dialogue.
Owning a good dictionary won't automatically make you a better writer. But developing your word awareness will. Remove the -ary from dictionary and what do you have? Diction. It means "Choice of words and the force, accuracy and distinction with which they are used." Force, accuracy and distinction--aren't those qualities we strive for in our work?
Whether we write articles, children's books, poetry or novels, words are our stock-in-trade. We have an obligation to use them well. First, to ourselves. Our manuscripts will never see publication if they contain misused words. When we get published, we're obligated to our readers to use words correctly. More than correctly--we should use them elegantly, humorously and innovatively. As published writers, we become the keepers of the language; what we write today determines the shape of English in the future. That's a heavy responsibility. I wouldn't want to tackle it without the help of few good dictionaries.