Why does an ereader need a dictionary?

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by vxf

One example. I was reading Harry Potter last night, the fourth book of the series - certainly not the most refined book around. I found these words in it, that I looked up and are now in the word log in my SONY:

taradiddles
popinjay
scalawag
codswallop
chortle
abreactions
postprandial
veldt

Now, I know I am not a native English speaker... but does anyone have a fairly precise idea of the meaning of all of those without consulting a dictionary?

And this is HARRY POTTER!!!!. You don't want me to open the log of Rushdie's books...

Not only I love SONY readers for the dictionaries - I just adore the word logs. Funny thing is, I have spoken to multiple users who didn't even know about this feature...

By the way, I have been trying to casually fit 'postprandial' in a conversation the whole day. I just love the word! But I haven't had a good chance. Tomorrow's another day, however...

"Chortle" I think is the most common of your list. "Taradiddles" and "Abreactions" I think I might get in context if I saw them used, but haven't run across the words before.

My recent log entries:

caryatid
paraventricular
helicoidal
mangonel
chalybeate
valetudinarian
tonneau
sclerotic
pelisses
tippets
feculent
scorbutic
petrel

[ApK]

Yes, "chortle" is probably pretty widely known, especially among English readers, since it's etymology is straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

It just occurred to me that the subject of this thread might be a bit insulting.
Was the presumption that the OP can't fathom how a reader could be so dim as to not know a word in his native language?
Or was it merely that he could not understand why a reader would pause in reading to look up a word?
If the latter, oh, heck yeah, I find reading far more enjoyable if I don't have to guess at meaning from context or try to remember a new word for later. I had always kept a paper dictionary in my bedside table for use when reading at night.
The dictionary in the Kindle has been a huge gift.
If the former....well, I'm not as wound up as I was the past couple days, so I'll let it slide.

ApK

[radleyp]

A good example of why a dictionary helps: the expression is "n'est-ce pas" and not "n'est pas.."

[GreenMonkey]

I almost never use the dictionary (maybe one or twice in 100 books) and those times I generally pick up the meaning from the context of the book. I also knew most of the examples in this thread (minus a couple of the stranger British Harry Potter words)

That said, it's handy to have, and a lot handier than a real dictionary.

[Ditchleyportrait]

Let me offer my perspective after I finish typing this redundant introduction.

When I was an undergrad I didn't have a kindle, and I was reading Faulkner (Hell, Faulkner is still on pre-order for kindle, anyway, right?). I was obsessive about understanding each and every sentence he made. I would *very* occasionally correct the professor due to the way I knew each text, having labored over each sentence, combing the pages for meaning.

Anyway, I would address a dictionary so frequently that I probably added a good two hours onto the amount of time it would usually take me to read. I was very obsessive at that time about knowing each and every thing the writer said.

The kindle makes that obsession a heck of a lot easier to deal with. Now instead of opening a heavy, fat, leather bound, ink-speckled dictionary, I toggle the toggle or whatever.

I'm not as obsessive as I was with having to know every word, and occassionally the built-in dictionary can be time-consuming, but overall the convenience of saved time instead of having to flip through an actual dictionary is one of the best features of e-readers.

I remember when ereaders didn't come with the dictionary support, and people demanded it on here, of course, and I'm so glad it's a standard feature with the kindle, as well as other readers.

Sometimes you get an ebook that's poorly transcribed, so that inconvenience makes ebooks annoying.

[Shimarenda]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Invite a friend to do something after lunch: "Do you want to go for a postprandial walk?"

You might as well go whole hog with that: "Do you want to go for a postprandial constitutional?"

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Shimarenda

You might as well go whole hog with that: "Do you want to go for a postprandial constitutional?"

[DMB]

If I use a dictionary, I'd much rather have a good dt one that gives a lot of detail on derivation rather than just a synonym or two. I think that's one of the most interesting things about dictionaries.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DMB

If I use a dictionary, I'd much rather have a good dt one that gives a lot of detail on derivation rather than just a synonym or two. I think that's one of the most interesting things about dictionaries.

Can't recall about my Sony, but Kindle's default dictionary is the complete Oxford American. Move the cursor near the word and you get the two line pop-up, press the enter key and you get the complete entry like in the paper edition. I have gone off on many dictionary-reading tangents this way...thank goodness for the back button or I'd have forgotten what I was reading in the first place.

[Namekuseijin]

because people are stupid and have quite a limited vocabulary.

On a more practical matter, some writing may refer to specialized jargon in some field you're not used to. Also, old fiction using older language. Looking up is always good, not just to clear up any doubts but also to

So, a dictionary close to you is handy. If it's integrated to the ereader then, it's awesome.

[crossi]

If they didn't have a mechanisn for the English Dictionary built in you wouldn't be able to add an other language dictionary for use when studying the language. Also there are a lot of people for whom English is a second language. Having a built in dictionary would be a huge help for them.

[DMB]

Well, even when reading in French, which is not my native language, I still prefer not to interrupt the reading flow by looking up a word. I make a mental note and look any words up after I finish reading.

[encapuchado]

Originally Posted by DMB

But if it's your own language and you are an adult, why the dictionary?

Do you really know every word in your language? You must be a big-shot among the ladies! I can't do the same claim, even when I read in Spanish, so I'm glad to have a dictionary in my reader.

[DMB]

Originally Posted by encapuchado

Do you really know every word in your language? You must be a big-shot among the ladies! I can't do the same claim, even when I read in Spanish, so I'm glad to have a dictionary in my reader.

No-one knows every word in their language, but a well educated adult isn't going to meet many new words when reading unless the reading is in a very specialised area. And even when a word is one that one hasn't met before, the meaning can usually be deduced either from the context or from the structure of the word (if, say, it comes from Greek or Latin, as do so many English words). Any really puzzling ones I can always look up afterwards.

I would add that seeing how words are used in context is OTW much more valuable for enlarging one's vocabulary than just looking them up in a dictionary. Of course there is a danger that the writer has misused a word and then you too can come away with the misuse implanted in your brain.

If I read for pleasure, there is simply no way I'm going to look up unfamiliar words as part of the reading process. If I'm reading something technical, then I may well stop to check the definition of a term to make sure that I'm not misunderstanding it. But I expect that sort of reading to take longer and if I read a page of mathematics I may have to stop to work out how one line follows from the line before.

[encapuchado]

Originally Posted by DMB

a well educated adult isn't going to meet many new words

Agreed. But not every owner of a reader is well educated, ergo we common people need dictionaries