The OED

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I love studying the history and usage of words and currently own several different types of dictionaries, some specialized for the field of linguistics and lit criticism, some for general use. And one statistics dictionary I hope I never have to open again.

But the end all, be all of dictionaries and the Golden Chalice of this book nerd is still the Oxford English Dictionary, or, in nerd parlance, 'The OED.' It's a 24 volume set (20 original, plus four supplemental volumes) and you can usually buy it for around $1,000. It takes up a lot of room. I almost bought it several years ago, but I knew I wasn't settled enough yet to buy a 24 volume dictionary. It's the kind of thing you don't want to haul around very far or often. But it's still a dream of mine to own the complete OED in print. In the Rebecca Scale of Consumerism, the OED ranks higher than diamonds.

www.oed.com

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