Your favorite (paper) dictionaries

[somethinorwatever]

What's the best paper dictionary that you guys know of that does NOT use romaji? I borrowed a dictionary from the library and it was full of romaji. I really want a dictionary that uses japanese characters. Thank you guys!

*Edit: I meant to say English<->Japanese Dictionaries that didn't use romaji. Thank you!

[becki_kanou]

I like Sanseido's Daily Concise Dictionary. It's made for Japanese speakers though, so it doesn't have readings for kanji.

[richvh]

[Curious as to what kind of an English-Japanese would have no romaji. Would the English be all in katakana?]

[AJBryant]

[Curious as to what kind of an English-Japanese would have no romaji. Would the English be all in katakana?]

Rich you have an evil streak in you.

I can appreciate that.


Tony

[somethinorwatever]

[Curious as to what kind of an English-Japanese would have no romaji. Would the English be all in katakana?]

I mean no romaji to represent the Japanese. Of course the English will be in English!

[richvh]

I think the point just went whooshing over your head.

This message is written entirely in romaji (= characters of Rome) - that is, the Latin alphabet that is the common heritage of central and western Europe, and areas heavily influenced by the cultures originating there. That it also happens to be written in English has nothing to do with the characters it is written in - it could have been written using the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, or katakana, and still be English; it could be written in French, German, Turkish, or Japanese, and still be written using romaji. Saying "the English is written in English" is an oxymoron.

[furrykef]

Saying "the English is written in English" is an oxymoron.

No, it's a tautology, which is pretty much the opposite of an oxymoron. An oxymoron is a contradiction in terms and therefore false; a tautology is automatically true, but only because of circular definition.

- Kef

[AJBryant]

Well, since we're tossing around words like oxymoron and tautology, I want to throw in my favorite one: catachresis.

Catachresis is an incorrect usage and mixed metaphor. My favorite example is "He's riding the waves of his saber rattling."

This has been a temporary thread hijack. We now return you to your regular thread topic.

Tony

[clay]

What an informative thread. I've learned a lot--just not much about dictionaries.

[furrykef]

Just one last bit before we get back on topic (assuming we do )... I once came up with a mixed metaphor that actually works: "However you slice it, it's one tough cookie." Two unrelated idioms that happen to go together. I find it amusing.

- Kef