The Oxford Writers Dictionary

The New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the essential A to Z guide for everyone who works with words. Drawing on the expertise of the Oxford Dictionaries department, it provides authoritative advice on those words and names which raise questions time after time because ofspelling, capitalization, hyphenation, and cultural or historical context. As well as lexical terms, there are many proper names included: from place names and personal names to names of institutions, literary references, and books of the Bible. Entries give full coverage of recommended spellings,variant forms, confusable words, hyphenation, capitalization, foreign and specialist terms, proper names, and abbreviations.It is an essential tool for writers, editors, publishers, journalists, and web editors, and together with New Hart's Rules and the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary forms the complete editorial reference set.

Would you write council house or council-house, referendums or referenda, vice versa or vice-versa, razzmatazz, or razzamatazz, or razz-ma-tazz, or ...? This comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of writing style and usage is an indispensable aid to writers, journalists, editors, publishers, and anyone who wishes to write correctly and effectively. * Straightforward guidance and rulings on problems of grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation * Broad coverage includes names of people and places, and foreign words and phrases * Helpful and informative on aspects of usage, such as capitalization and abbreviations

The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the evolution of the English language from 1150 to the present day. The Dictionary defines over 500,000 words, making it an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, pronunciation, and history of the English language. This new upgrade version of The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM offers unparalleled access to the world's most important reference work for the English language. The text of this version has been augmented with the inclusion of the Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series (Volumes 1-3), published in 1993 and 1997, the Bibliography to the Second Edition, and other ancillary material. System requirements: PC with minimum 200 MHz Pentium-class processor; 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended); 16-speed CD-ROM drive (32-speed recommended); Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 200, or XP (Local administrator rights are required to install and open the OED for the first time on a PC running Windows NT 4 and to install and run the OED on Windows 2000 and XP); 1.1 GB hard disk space to run the OED from the CD-ROM and 1.7 GB to install the CD-ROM to the hard disk: SVGA monitor: 800 x 600 pixels: 16-bit (64k, high color) setting recommended. Please note: for the upgrade, installation requires the use of the OED CD-ROM v2.0.

This book aims to provide a one-stop reference with comprehensive and helpful advice on a very broad range of issues encountered when writing or editing, either professionally or whilst studying. A completely expanded, revised, and updated version of the first edition, it presents the house style of Oxford University Press, drawing on the experience of the Dictionary Department and the Presss in-house academic desk editors. It gives clear advice on common spelling difficulties, names ofpeople and places, foreign words and phrases, abbreviations, and broad aspects of usage, including capitalization and punctuation.

Tolkien's first job, on returning home from World War I, was as an assistant on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary. He later said that he had "learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of his life." The Ring of Words reveals how his professional work on the OED influenced Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional world. Here three senior editors of the OED offer an intriguing exploration of Tolkien's career as a lexicographer and illuminate his creativity as a word user and word creator. The centerpiece of the book is a wonderful collection of "word studies" which will delight the heart of Ring fans and word lovers everywhere. The editors look at the origin of such Tolkienesque words as "hobbit," "mithril, "Smeagol," "Ent," "halfling," and "worm" (meaning "dragon"). Readers discover that a word such as "mathom" (anything a hobbit had no immediate use for, but was unwilling to throw away) was actually common in Old English, but that "mithril," on the other hand, is a complete invention (and the first "Elven" word to have an entry in the OED). And fans of Harry Potter will be surprised to find that "Dumbledore" (the name of Hogwart's headmaster) was a word used by Tolkien and many others (it is a dialect word meaning "bumblebee"). Few novelists have found so much of their creative inspiration in the shapes and histories of words. Presenting archival material not found anywhere else, The Ring of Words offers a fresh and unexplored angle on the literary achievements of one of the world's most famous and best-loved writers.

Covers basic grammar, punctuation, spelling, and idiomatic phrases of American English.

New editions of three essential handbooks for writers and editors bundled together for the first time and at a great discount. Authoritative and comprehensive, New Hart's Rules, The New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, and The New Oxford Spelling Dictionary are the indispensable desk guides for all writers and editors, and together form the complete editorial reference set. New Hart's Rules is the definitive guide to style for everyone who works with words. Following in the footsteps of the inimitable Hart's Rules (first printed in 1893, and published in thirty-nine editions), New Hart's Rules is a brand-new text giving authoritative and expert advice on all editorial aspects of creating text whether on paper or on line. Amongst other topics, the work covers layout and headings, hyphenation and punctuation, UK and US usage, bibliography, footnotes, illustrations, and indexing. It is an essential part of every writer's and editor's toolkit. New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the essential A-Z guide for everyone who works with words. brand-new book provides authoritative advice on spellings of difficult and unusual words, variant forms, confusable words, hyphenation, capitalization, foreign and specialist terms, proper names, and abbreviations. An essential part of every editor's and writer's toolkit. The New Oxford Spelling Dictionary is a brand-new text, designed to offer both a quick reference for spelling and also an authoritative guide to recommended word breaks for line endings in text, whether on paper or in electronic form. Based on the latest Oxford Dictionaries' research, this text gives unambiguous guidance on spelling and form, including capitalization, hyphenation of compounds, UK and US spelling, and irregular inflections. It is an essential part of every writer's and editor's toolkit.