Obscure Dictionaries for Translators

Know More: Technical Translation, Tools of the Trade 2.0, Technical Translation

I have several unusual dictionaries that I rarely use but can't get rid of. Garage sales have come and gone, and I can't bring myself to part with them because "you never know" when they might be useful. This brings up several questions:

(In a lighter vein) Is this a common affliction among translators, or is it the linguist in me?
(On a more serious note) What is the length of the copyright claim? Maybe we could be scanning and sharing these oddball dictionaries with each other. Is there a place for sharing such things?
What is your oddest dictionary or glossary?

I have the "Engineers' Dictionary: Spanish-English and English-Spanish", by Louis A. Robb, 2nd edition, 2nd printing, 1953, Chapman and Hall. I've seen it available for sale at various prices, but that still leaves it available to only one person at a time. I also have the "Glossary of Transportation Terms: Glosario de Términos Transportes, 1994" from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

I imagine you're talking about weightier tomes than the ones I tend to buy (I'm more of a language geek than a proper translator...)

But I am afflicted with a dictionary addiction. I can rarely walk out of a bookstore without at least a pocket-sized bilingual dictionary between English and... well, some language for which I have no need of a dictionary whatsoever. ☺

Maven Note: Yeah, I know what you mean. I finally gave my Hawaiian-English dictionary to a Hawaiian friend as a gift. I've never been there and have no occasion to use the dictionary. But the "weightier tomes" are harder to part with because of their great potential utility.

Posted by: Patrick Hall | February 21, 2006 7:42 PM | Permalink to Comment

I'm not sure if it's more the inner linguist or the inner packrat, but my quadlingual family has a BIG chunk of its bookcases devoted to the dictionaries that don't fit in the office...

Maven Note: You just never know when that book of Danish phrases my come in handy, no?

Posted by: Dena Shunra | March 8, 2006 2:30 PM | Permalink to Comment

A discussion about translation services, translators, and translation software

related entries

2 Comments/Trackbacks

submit a trackback

post a comment

Comment Preview

Advertise

Related Resources

recent comments

sponsored ads

topics

subscribe

Current News

resources

Support This Blog

archives

blogroll

Know More Media - Writing / Speaking

know more media network

we support unitus

PRWeb

Influencer

ProductivityGoal

CallCenterScript

AdHurl

TheBizofKnowledge

HealthCareVox

BrainBasedBusiness