Oxford English Dictionary at Your Fingertips!

One of my favorite things to do is to read dictionaries. Yes, I mean it. I read dictionaries. I guess that truly pins me down as a dork. But that's ok. I can live with that title. Dork it is! Some of my favorites words: copacetic, the origin of which is not known for sure, and mediocre, which means, literally, halfway up a stony mountain. Love it! One of my favorite dictionaries, not surprisingly is The Oxford English Dictionary, but it can be a handful. But, new in the store is The Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition on CD-ROM Version 4.0. How cool is that! For a mere $295, you can have easy access to the internationally recognized authority on the English Language, with definitions of more than 500,000 words and tracing their usage through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of literary and other sources. And think what a great punch $295 would be on your pink free-book card!

The text on the CD-ROM comprises the full text of the OED 2nd Edition , plus the three Additions volumes, as well as 7,000 new entries from the OED's continuing research. Most importantly, OED v4.0 on CD-ROM boasts superb search-and-retrieval software, designed specifically for the electronic version, enabling you to investigate The OED in ways not possible with the print edition. Questions which might have taken years of patient research can now be answered in seconds.

• New to this version: Now compatible for Mac users as well as PC users; Flash-base; Smoother and faster performance providing instantaneous search results; New word-wheel which supports incremental letter-by-letter browsing; 7,000 new words and meanings.


• Existing functionality retained from earlier versions includes: Installation to the hard drive, so the CD is not required during use of the dictionary; Options to customize the entry display and show or hide pronunciations, spellings, etymology, and quotation text; Flexible full text search options, with search filters and an option to rank entries and search results alphabetically or by date.

We keep this little baby behind the counter, so you'll have to ask us for it. What a spectacular gift it would be -- for you or someone you love. Considering that the 20-volume hardcover version costs $995 and doesn't include the vast amount of new material that this CD-ROM holds, this version is quite the bargain at $295.