Dictionary

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Now, without looking in the dictionary, do you know what a "ha-ha" is?

Yes, but only because Terry Pratchett spoofed them as "ho-ho"s that claimed the lives of two gardeners in his Discworld books.

You've got me at "quintain", though I'd guess that it was some sort of landscaping area. Or a mutant 5-lobed plantain being served up for elevenses.

As for the OP's question, one thing I like about the Kindle's dictionary capabilities is the possibility to swap out and use other compatible dictionaries or even create your own in the Mobipocket format.

Quite likely one can do something similar with the Sonys, but I'd have no idea how and whether one is limited to commercially-supplied dictionaries or could roll one's own.

Hopefully one day the IDPF will see fit to create official dictionary and externally-kept annotations/bookmarks formats to accompany ePub and thereby help to standardize things across supporting readers.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

You've got me at "quintain", though I'd guess that it was some sort of landscaping area. Or a mutant 5-lobed plantain being served up for elevenses.

Just so you do know, a quintain is a jousting game, which remained popular at village fairs in England really right up to the time that horses went out of fashion. The idea was to hit a small target with a lance, while riding at a full gallop. In the form of the game in "Barchester Towers", it's a pole with a rotating cross-bar at the top, on one end of which was a target, and on the other end a heavy bag of flour, so that if you missed the target, or struck it poorly, you got hit on the head by the bag of flour.

So now you know .

[Pomtroll]

Harry I was wondering what those words meant & looked in my paper dictionary. Could find neither. Guess I need more comprehensive dictionaries than the American Heritage & Webster Student edition. I usually read with a dictionary nearby because there often times is a word I don't know.

So these words are in your Kindle dictionaries? If the are that good, I just may get a Kindle.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Pomtroll

Harry I was wondering what those words meant & looked in my paper dictionary. Could find neither. Guess I need more comprehensive dictionaries than the American Heritage & Webster Student edition. I usually read with a dictionary nearby because there often times is a word I don't know.

So these words are in your Kindle dictionaries? If the are that good, I just may get a Kindle.

They're in both the Kindle and the Sony dictionary, with quite a full explanation. Eg, the Kindle says for "ha-ha":

n. a ditch with a wall on its inner side below ground level, forming a boundary to a park or garden without interrupting the view.
<ORIGIN> early 18th century: from French, said to be from the cry of surprise on suddenly encountering such an obstacle.

[Pomtroll]

Thanks HarryT. You just may have sold me on Kindle in addition to my nook. I love my nook for the touch screen & keyboard but the dictionary is lousy.