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Pulpmeister · 02-17-2012, 02:24 AM

Well, the five-finger rule would blow quite a lot of books I have read off my shelves. Any Poirot novel, for starters -- I mostly guess at the meaning of his numerous French exclamations and remarks.

But what it would most blow of the shelves are my dictionaries. I have several of historic slang, two of American slang -- and I read them all from front to back as soon as I got them.

I take the view that if I discover a word I don't understand, it suggests my literacy is not up to par. What I do in practice is reach for the dictionary - not the one on my kindle, but the two-volume Shorter Oxford right behind me as I type. And, being a word-nut, I read that from A to Z when I bought it, though not in one sitting.

I also have German-English and Italian-English dictionaries within reach, both acquired when I needed to understand something.

i guess I'm just a compulsive reader.

02-17-2012, 02:24 AM	#22
Pulpmeister Wizard Posts: 2,827 Karma: 29145056 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Perth Western Australia Device: kindle	Well, the five-finger rule would blow quite a lot of books I have read off my shelves. Any Poirot novel, for starters -- I mostly guess at the meaning of his numerous French exclamations and remarks. But what it would most blow of the shelves are my dictionaries. I have several of historic slang, two of American slang -- and I read them all from front to back as soon as I got them. I take the view that if I discover a word I don't understand, it suggests my literacy is not up to par. What I do in practice is reach for the dictionary - not the one on my kindle, but the two-volume Shorter Oxford right behind me as I type. And, being a word-nut, I read that from A to Z when I bought it, though not in one sitting. I also have German-English and Italian-English dictionaries within reach, both acquired when I needed to understand something. i guess I'm just a compulsive reader.