Crazy about Oxford Dictionary

Oxford Fanatic — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:59:14 +0000

Free text translation has been gaining more and more popularity over the years. An online text translation service enables you to translate from and to common languages. Babylon has recently lauched a number of such services – all FREE OF CHARGE:

1 – Oversattning – Swedish translation to and from 26 languages.

2 – Tlumacz – Polish language translation of texts.

3 – Online çeviri – Turkish text translator to and from 26 languages.

4 – Vertalen – Translation to and from Dutch.

5 – Переводчик – Russian full translation

6 – 日本語翻訳 – Japanese translation of words, phrases and texts.

Before the advancement of the Internet, and its ability to offer prime services, translation of texts free of charge could have been something inconceivable, but today you have at your disposal an array of online dictionary sites and text translation tools free and easy to use: Babylon.

Babylon is certainly the best known company when it comes to translation and dictionary software but what many still don’t realize is that it also offers hundreds of free sites where users can achieve instant translations of single words, full phrases and even whole texts! Granted that the service is provided by an automatic translation tool, but one of the many advantages of using Babylon’s service is that all you have to do is a little editing work to have a high quality translation for free and without wasting any precious time.

This is a post kindly sent to us by Babylon Blog.

The City of Spires

Oxford Fanatic — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:49:16 +0000

I guess that my love affair with the Oxford Dictionary started after I first visited Oxford as a undergraduate student in History specializing in family history and genealogical research: its exquisite architecture, quaint shops and cafes, lovely sun light (well, when there is sun) and friendly people. Ever since that first visit, I’ve been to Oxford many times, and it never ceases to amaze me the peace of mind and spirit I feel each time.

As you probably already know, Oxford means the “Ford of the Ox” which was a name given by the area’s first inhabitants, the Saxons.

Only on the 12th century the city of Oxford began having a great deal of notoriety due to the establishment of the world’s famous Oxford University, which is today’s one of the world’s oldest, if not famous, universities.

History of the English Language

Oxford Fanatic — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:00:55 +0000

Nice readings about the development of the English language can be found at:

Enjoy!

Oxford University Press Timeline

Oxford Fanatic — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:42:44 +0000

Here is a short timeline for the long history of Oxford University Press.

Source: http://www.oup.com/uk/about/history

I allowed myself to edit this timeline with adding additional historical events.

1478	First book printed in Oxford — Lorenzo de’ Medici becomes sole ruler of Florence. —
1586	Decree of Star Chamber grants the University one printer and printing press — The Treaty of Berwick is signed between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland. —
1669	Printing begins in the Sheldonian Theatre — The Hanseatic League, after 400 years of operation, holds its last official meeting in Lübeck. —
1713	The Press moves to the Clarendon Building — Second Treaty of Utrecht signed between Britain and France ending the War of the Spanish Succession. —
1830	The Press moves to the Great Clarendon Street site — Edwin Beard Budding is granted a patent for the invention of lawnmower. —
1884	First edition of The Oxford English Dictionary begins publication — Dr William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Iesu Grist (Jesus Christ) Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the U.K. —
1896	First overseas branch opens in New York — Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. —
1926	Overseas Education department (later English Language Teaching) begins — A BBC radio play about a worker’s revolution causes a panic in London. —
1928	Last volume of OED first edition published — Malta becomes a British dominion. —
1941	Oxford Dictionary of Quotatons published — Orson Welles’ film Citizen Kane premieres in New York City. —
1961	Joint publication with Cambridge University Press of Revised English Bible — John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States. —
2000	OED launched online — The year 2000 was the subject of Y2K concerns: fears that computers would not shift from 1999 to 2000 correctly. —
2004	Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published, in print and online — The National World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC. —

Commonly Misspelled Words

Oxford Fanatic — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:18:40 +0000

Make them your daily prayer, despite the spellchecker you have on your computer.

If not, be sure you will pay for it big time. There will be the day you have to leave a handwritten note to your boss or lover – you wouldn’t like to look like fool when that happens. You will try to spell a word to a colleague over the phone….

And there will be that one colleague pretending to admire you for your English skills saying during lunch in the canteen “You will certainly be able to tell us what is the right writing of xyz.”

Did I forget any of our common “My English needs improvement” nightmares?

So again – make them your daily prayer, those great “Commonly Misspelled Words” advices at AskOxford.

Apropos nightmare…According to Dreams-Dictionary.org it will tell you: To dream that you are writing, foretells that you will make a mistake which will almost prove your undoing.

Write better with Better Writing

Oxford Fanatic — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:03:55 +0000

Looking around me I see that many of my friends, and I myself, are having a busy lifestyle: Our jobs are demanding and we have to invest countless hours to get our tasks done. Family comes first in our mind and hearts, many times second as to the time we dedicate to it. Health, we try, we are on diets, we try to stop smoking, we do some sports. Self-fulfillment – we heard about, but never understood it to its depth.

If your life has some resemblance to the one just described, you might not have the time to study English in the way you would like to and in the way your jobs actually demands. We need things in small portions, small tokens to get our grey cells working.

Writing Better at AskOxford.com might be just the solution you are looking for and best of all: it is completely free (because you anyhow have no money to spend on that as you prefer to pay the bills of your kids’ private lessons)

Have a look, give it a try. This site will enlighten and entertain you, and it will help to write better English. Promised!

I love the Commonly Confused Words . Needless to say that I am terrible ashamed by each and every example, knowing that I got that wrong as well. Great help you will find in all the different sections of Better Writing: Spelling and Grammar Tips, Plain English, Email, SMS, and Online Chat and One Step Ahead: Effective Communication in Everyday Life.

English Studies

Oxford Fanatic — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:25:08 +0000

You can not get serious about studing English without an English dictionary at your desktop. But if you are more the new generation of Internet user typ, you certainly will enjoy http://www.oxfordenglishtesting.com, an interactive website with English tests supporting self-study students.

This new OUP site addresses institutions as well as individuals with carefully structured learning and testing material.

let us only have a look at offer for private students. Prices range between 2 to 5 GBP per unit. Don’t listen to others if this investment is worthwhile the money. Try out some free see if this suits your specific way of learning.

Oxford University Press

Oxford Fanatic — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:32:52 +0000

Oxford University Press

This is a giant. No, this is not only a feeling, it is a fact: OUP is the largest university press in the world.

Oxford University Press

It is a publisher of distinguished dictionaries. But it is also the brand that stands for authority and quality when it comes to books from the whole range of academic disciplines. Academicians will do their outmost to have their works publish by Oxford.

Oxford University Press

Takes its responsibility in choosing the works to be published are carefully chosen: the further enhance scholarship and education in general one of the benchmarks for these works.

Got you interested?

Maroon Cont.

Oxford Fanatic — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

After reporting about the discussion concerning the Marron definition in Oxfords Concise Dictionary in my last post, I decided to visit AskOxford today.

Clearly it is difficult and a long process to change a dictionary entry on a print edition. But what’s about the digital version of this reference book? Wouldn’t it be easy to change the definition there, as a clear sign of Oxford’s seriousness towards this issue?

So let’s face it; the entry hasn’t changed at all:

maroon

• verb (be marooned) be abandoned alone in an inaccessible place.

— ORIGIN from Maroon, a member of a group of black people descended from runaway slaves and living in parts of Suriname and the West Indies, from Spanish cimarrón ‘runaway slave’.

Let’s have some fun!

Oxford Fanatic — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Compact Oxford English Dictionary

marriage

• noun 1 the formal union of a man and a woman, by which they become husband and wife. 2 a combination of two or more elements.

— PHRASES marriage of convenience a marriage concluded primarily to achieve a practical purpose.

— ORIGIN Old French mariage, from marier ‘marry’.

The Devil’s Dictionary

Marriage, (n.)

The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.