The PRS-600 dictionary

[AprilHare]

I noticed that the PRS-600 comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary built-in.
Being a native speaker of Australian English (can you tell the difference? ) it occured to me that if I were to purchase a PRS-600, one of my first desires would be to replace those nasty faucets and trashcans with taps and garbage bins respectively.
Would non-American users (or indeed American users who don't like the New Oxford American) be interested in either replacing or complementing the default dictionary with another, either for free or for a fee?
My first vote would be either for the Oxford Australian Dictionary or the Macquarie Dictionary, but Zelda for instance might be after a good French dictionary..

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

My first vote would be either for the Oxford Australian Dictionary or the Macquarie Dictionary, but Zelda for instance might be after a good French dictionary..

i confirm. although i do enough reading in english that i won't spit on an english dictionary either. but yes, i am really hoping that there will be some way to get even more dictionaries on there (preferably, in addition to the standard ones. you can never have too many dictionaries, as far as i'm concerned ). personally, i'm hoping our resident hacker genius igorsk can hook me up.

[Abecedary]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

I noticed that the PRS-600 comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary built-in.
Being a native speaker of Australian English (can you tell the difference? ) it occured to me that if I were to purchase a PRS-600, one of my first desires would be to replace those nasty faucets and trashcans with taps and garbage bins respectively.

First, wouldn't those words appear in the text that you're reading? Or are you expecting the dictionary to automatically swap them out for you if your non-preference appears in the text? Second, there's also the choice of the Oxford Dictionary of English, which would presumably have the more familiar "proper" terms for lifts and flats and lorries and arses and colours and what-have-yous. Not exactly an Australian dictionary, but a lot closer. It would be nice if someone were to figure out the format they're using, though.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Abecedary

First, wouldn't those words appear in the text that you're reading? Or are you expecting the dictionary to automatically swap them out for you if your non-preference appears in the text?

Don't be silly A dictionary never works that way. We all know this.

Originally Posted by Abecedary

Second, there's also the choice of the Oxford Dictionary of English, which would presumably have the more familiar "proper" terms for lifts and flats and lorries and arses and colours and what-have-yous. Not exactly an Australian dictionary, but a lot closer.

Australian English, for instance, does not use the word lorry. It's truck. So no, not good enough substitution.

Originally Posted by Abecedary

It would be nice if someone were to figure out the format they're using, though.

Yes it would

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Australian English, for instance, does not use the word lorry. It's truck. So no, not good enough substitution.

I'm afraid I don't follow you. British English dictionaries have both "lorry" and "truck" in them, so what's the problem?

[LDBoblo]

I'd have just preferred a modular dictionary like StarDict.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid I don't follow you. British English dictionaries have both "lorry" and "truck" in them, so what's the problem?

I could sum up all the differences between Australian, British and American English for you, but the difference is significant enough to publish a separate dictionary
For 'lorry'; yes it is in both dictionaries, but I bet you the word 'gobsmacked' isn't and there are plenty of other unique words..
The publishers of dictionaries certainly think so!
http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ http://www.anu.edu.au/ANDC/ http://www.collinslanguage.com/aus/default.aspx

[HarryT]

"gobsmacked" is a perfectly acceptable British word. In fact, I'm 99% certain that it is of British origin.

[Abecedary]

Not to mention, is AprilHare really planning on using the dictionary to look up words like 'gobsmacked' or 'truck'? Maybe it's just me, but I got over the fascination of looking up common words in the dictionary when I was maybe 8 or 9. I use dictionaries all the time, but to look up slightly more difficult words like 'numinous' and 'sesquipedalian'--words that should appear in a good English dictionary regardless of which particular flavo(u)r of English it's targetted at.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Abecedary

Not to mention, is AprilHare really planning on using the dictionary to look up words like 'gobsmacked' or 'truck'? Maybe it's just me, but I got over the fascination of looking up common words in the dictionary when I was maybe 8 or 9. I use dictionaries all the time, but to look up slightly more difficult words like 'numinous' and 'sesquipedalian'--words that should appear in a good English dictionary regardless of which particular flavo(u)r of English it's targetted at.

Thanks for second-guessing me
It's a point of principle that you should be able to get a dictionary that suits your language. Whether it's French, Australian English or Russian.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by HarryT

"gobsmacked" is a perfectly acceptable British word. In fact, I'm 99% certain that it is of British origin.

I'm not sure..
There has been this line of Aussies and Poms on the Australian-British travel route for that long it's hard to tell sometimes where words come from anymore.

[astra]

Most likely sony will sell readers with British English in the UK, otherwise it will make many Brits furious since Anti-Americanism is trend over here

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by astra

Most likely sony will sell readers with British English in the UK, otherwise it will make many Brits furious since Anti-Americanism is trend over here

The PRS-600 has both US and UK-English dictionaries on it.

[astra]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The PRS-600 has both US and UK-English dictionaries on it.

Really?
I thought they mean it will be either one or another depending on where they are sold.
Nice.
I am still struggling, because my vocabulary was built upon reading astronomy magazines and fantasy books, mostly written by American writers.
Candies, cookies, parking lot...

[HarryT]

I think it's both, but I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that. I don't think it really matters, though - American dictionaries have British words in them, and vice versa.