Why Chambers?

[paddywak]

Today I called into see my sister and found that she had several friends, all avid quiz & crossword fans, visiting. During the conversation, which soon turned to different quizes, it was commented on that while Chambers Dictionary seemed to be the favorite with compilers nobody could decide why this was. So why is Chambers the favorite?

[Murielmci]

Chambers has a wide range of words and a clear definition. Words are included from scots, foreign words in common usage within english (such as per se, sic etc) and alternate spellings from Shakespeare or Spenser.

You do have to buy the correct Chambers as there are several versions that are a bit shorter - great for many uses but not for crosswords.

Oxford is excellent for modern day usage.

Collins English Dictionary is super for proper nouns so some famous people are included and also characters from myths and legends.

If I could only afford one it would be Chambers. The breadth is truly magnicent - I've been using mine since 1975 and am now on the 10th Edition. Well worth every penny.

Another reason is of course that it is the compilers' favourite so often when you look up a word you see it down verbatim.

[razza]

apparently it is the best single edition on the market,I too have Collins,I would not be without either.

[paddywak]

thanks for the imput, it just came up in the conversation, which led to a discussion on the merits of the various dictionaries on the market (I've a Collins, which has always been OK) However, I might drop a few christmas present hints, so which edition Chambers would you recomend?

[bathtub]

Get the latest (2006) edition, though the 2003 is still perfectly OK and is still the standard for some compilers (eg Azed in the Observer). Expect to pay �30, anything cheaper is a bargain.

[Catron]

Personally, I would treat yourself (or get someone to treat you!) to the Chambers Dictionary and Thesaurus on CD-ROM. This has the full text of the dictionary and thesaurus and is especially useful for 'full text' searches where one can enter a word and get every occurrence of that word in the dictionary - eg if one was to enter 'goose' one would get 'anserine', 'bargoose', 'barnacle' 'bernicle-goose', 'bird' 'boo' etc (really good this for general knowledge crosswords).

As far as paper editions go, then I agree the latest edition you can get or afford would be best, though you can often get an earlier edition cheaper in some bookshops. If you have a number of bookshops where you live, I would not expect you to have to pay more than �15 for the eighth edition, which I think is the 2003 edition referred to above.

[paddywak]

Thanks again for the info everybody, as Catron sugests I think I'll check out the CD-ROM as I'm already in trouble for having reference books all over the place.
P.S. Merry Christmas everyone