general

For about five months I've been using the Compact Oxford to look up unfamilar words. I came across a word recently while reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown---wolf's bane--that I could not find in any Merriam Webster dictionary, including the Third New International. When I slid volume two of the Compact Oxford from the slipcase and grabbed the magnifying glass and turned to the W's, there I found wolf's bane, on page 3807. I was delighted. I have found other words in the Oxford that I have not found in other dictionaries, such as those words used by many British authors. I love the dictionary. I like to feel its solid heftiness in my hands and I like to read the etymology of each word, which the Oxford so aptly provides. The $260 is a great deal. Try checking the price of the 20 volume set! I recommend this set to all lovers of the English language.

Once you've seen the OED, nothing else really looks like a dictionary. This is the authoritative source of information on words of the English language - their many meanings (look up "jack", for example), usages, histories, and origins, and more.

It takes me a lot longer to use this than to use any other dictionary. No matter what I look up, I find lots of other interesting words or meanings on the way through. That's the fun of it, though: so many discoveries to make about even the words thought I knew.

The compact edition is an incredible feat of printing. It really does contain everything in the 20-volume set, mini-printed with nine regular pages per compact page. The paper is tissue thin, so the book isn't a meter thick, but opaque and durable.

The mini-printing can be a problem, though. Older eyes will not be able to read the text without a magnifier; one is provided, but isn't the easiest to use. The size and weight of the book could be a problem, too. If you want to display this, and you will, it might not be easy to find a big enough space for it.

It's worth the trouble. This volume is the only practical way to have the OED at home (mansions not included).

There is nothing like it - if I were allowed to own just one book, this would be it.

Last September, I ordered the compact OED for my grad school kids for Christmas. The copy came with severe spine damage, which no one saw until opening on December 25. I cannot find where to exchange for a perfect, heritage gift. Amazon. com will not reply. Please send me a phone #. This is Amazon's fault and all I receive from Amazon is the news that I cannot return an order after 30 days or I can sell the purchase as a used book. Good grief--this a 300 dollar purchase. Please advise. Do I have to go so far as to contact Oxford Press? I have resolved never to order from Amazon again. And I am an academic who orders impulsively from Amazon. Will have to switch to Powells and should have just ordered on the academic discount from Oxford in the first place.

Any thoughts, advice, Amazon phone numbers or commiseration will be well accepted. Thanks for reading and perhaps your help.