Dictionary Reviews

yes the DBI as it is called in the Wilhoit house is the bestest book ever (after the Bible of coarse!). i have been meandering arround his office and old students have come in and told him what a great book this was!!! Buy it!! I come in like a billion languages (Korean, Chinese, and English)
~Juliana Wilhoit

This is a very extensive, yet concise topical dictionary that explores the countless metaphors and images so prevelant in the Bible. It is amazing how much God used symbolism to represent Himself or His promises, and most people (including the OT Jews) never caught it.

One point of interest to me was the meaning behind the lampstand God had Moses contruct. Most people overlook the details God gave concerning it's construction and what it referred to, but not this book...

If you are a fan of the IVP series that includes such volumes as "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels," "Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments," "Dictionary of Paul and His Letters," you will thoroughly enjoy this reference book.

I really had no clue as to how important biblical imagery was before i read many parts of this dictionary. Biblical imagery isn't just for Catholics anymore! Biblical imagery is so important to the bible because the bible is wrapped up in imagery.

Why does God refer to His followers as sheep? What was the significance of the prodigal son getting a robe, ring and sandals when he returned home? How are various metaphors used in scriptures? How does Old Testament imagery relate to New Testament writings? All these are questions that many of us have entertained and are answered in great depth in this dictionary. I don't remember what course this book was necessary for in bible school, but I am sure glad that I got my hands on it.

If you are a preacher, pastor or a leader in the church you need to get your hands on this book too. Biblical imagery is too important for us to be ignorant of. God uses imagery to emphasize points or principles and we need to know what He is saying instead of being confused at why such a figure would be used to tell a parable or story.

Herbs enhance and enliven meals. Herbs are the leaves of fresh or dried plants. Spices are the aromatic parts: buds, fruit, berries, roots or bark. Most spices thrive in tropical regions, while herbs can be grown in your own garden or indoors in a sunny place. Some herbs can also produce spices.

If you think of the Coriander/Cilantro plant, cilantro is the herb and the seeds are known as coriander. This is why this book is so helpful as it explains the plants in detail. I didn't realize the root was also used in Thai curries. A recipe for Guacamole is included on the same two-page spread.

Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz is an authority on herbs and spices and international cuisine. She created this sourcebook in order to guide the reader to information on more than 200 herbs, spices, essences, edible flowers and leaves, aromatics, vinegars, oils, teas, coffees and just about every seasoning a modern cook needs to produce flavorful foods.

With 750 spectacular full-color photographs and 185 recipes you will learn how to create characteristic flavors that define cuisines of the world.

The Contents Include:

Growing and Harvesting Herbs
Drying and Preserving herbs
Edible Gifts

Kitchen Herbs: Chives, Dill, Angelica, Chervil, Tarragon, Borage, Tansy, Coriander/Cilantro, Lemongrass, Fennel, Hyssop, Bay, Lovage, Lemon Balm, Mint, Bee Balm, Sweet Cicely, Basil, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Burnet, Rosemary, Sorrel, Sage, Savory, Thyme and Lemon Verbena.

Kitchen Spices: Galangal, Celery Seed, Annatto, Sassafras, Mustard, Chili, Paprika, Ajowan, Caraway, Spice Mixtures, Cassia, Cinnamon, Saffron, Cumin, Turmeric, Curry Powerders, Cardamom, cloves, Asafoetida, Star Anise, Juniper, Mace & Nutmeg, Nigella, Poppy Seeds, Allspice, Anise, Pepper, Sumac, Sesame Seeds,. Salt, Tamarind, Fenugreek, Vanilla and Ginger.

Flavors of the World: An absolutely amazing section on the traditional ingredients used in cultural cuisine all over the globe.

Vegetable and Fruit Flavorings
Extracts, Essences & Sweeteners
Edible Leaves & Flowers
Oils, Vinegars & Dairy Products
Sauces, Preserves & Condiments
Coffee, Tea & Spiced Drinks

Some of the recipes you might enjoy: Chiles Rellenos, Fruit Salad with Cardamom, Moroccan Preserved Lemons, Gingerbread Cookies, Rose Petal Ice Cream, Beet Salad with Walnut Oil Dressing and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Did I mention how amazing this book is? If you love to cook, this is a must-have resource for your cookbook collection. It is also just pure fun to read!

Gorgeous Photography and oh, so wonderfully organized!

Books I know you will love is you enjoy this one:

The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld
How to Cook by Delia Smith
The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White, M.D.
Cooking A to Z by Jane Horn
Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts by Steven Labensky
The Quotable Cook by Kate Rowinski

If you had this book, you'd know that Agar-Agar is a seaweed and Zahtar is a blend of sumac, roasted sesame seeds, and ground thyme. Encylopedia indeed! I purchased this book to learn about herbs and spices so that I could cook flavorful while cutting salt, fat, mayo, and other bad things in my diet. If you only get one one kitchen reference on this subject, make it this one. I started giving this book as a gift to friends and family and now they're giving it as a gift as well. It's divided into the following sections:

-Introduction
-Kitchen Herbs
-Kitchen Spices
-Flavors of the World (Characteristics of the world's cuisines)
-Vegetable and Fruit Flavorings
-Extracts, Essences, and Sweeteners
-Edible Leaves and Flowers
-Oils, Vinegars, and Dairy Products
-Sauces, Preserves, and Condiments
-Coffee, Tea, and Spiced Drinks

'Nough said. Buy this book, you can't beat the price and you'll love the content! Check out the sample pages for a glimpse of what you're in for.

I brought this book home with me after a trip to England 8 years ago. Now that it is available in North America I can recommend it for anyone wanting to figure out what really grows in an herb garden. I was looking for a book to explain all the herbs I previously had only read about on the menus I was eating from. Full pages are devoted to most of the world's common herbs & spices. The digrams are exceptional for Food ID and each item includes an example recipe, handling, prep, and storage techniques. The more I have learned about cooking, the more details I have found hidden in the pictures and text. It even rivals my best coffee table books!

Easy to understand format,from lay person to professionals.Very concised and updated information is given. Recomended for everyone who is into nutrition and living healthy.This book is a must for every home.

As a professional nutritional consultant, I write a two page monthly newsletter and am in awe of the consistent high quality of what Dr. Ronzio has given us. In my efforts to distill pertinent material for the busy doctor from books and scientific articles, I have many reference and text books to further consult from. I invariably look to Dr. Ronzio's Encyclopedia on Nutrition and Good Health for integrity, clarity and depth of understanding in objective and concise terminology. Like the other reviewers of this enclyclopedia on nutrition and good health, I find it a very valuable and useful source.

I highly recommend that nutritional health professionals obtain two reference copies, one for their immediate use and the other as their waiting room copy. Its inviting manner with immediately usable information allows for a better educated patient with even a better chance of getting well.

I also recommend Dr. Ronzio's Enclylopedia to anyone having difficulty explaining the nature of good nutrition to the rest of the family. He adeptly addresses and clarifies much of the bogus nutritional information in today's terms and settings in a very easy to find and read format.

Thank you, Dr. Ronzio, for all your dedicated hard work to provide The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health.

As a professional consultant to both health care professionals and their patients, I often need accurate and understandale definitions of sometimes difficult concepts. The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health is a valuable resource for finding pertinent facts and information on almost any subject regarding health. I can recomend it highly to both professional and lay persons. I use this resource on a daily basis myself.

I lived in Germany for two years as a child and attented a German school...but I never took a class on German grammer until now (college). Different verb forms especially had my brain in a knot. Fortunately this book was required for my German Lit class, and suddenly it's all begining to make sense. The book is laid out in chapters(verbs, adjective endings, passive voice, ect.) and each chapter is further divided into levels (I, II, III) according to your experience with German. Start with level I verbs and work your way up, or skip right to the more advanced levels if you are so inclined. The current book also features skill-building excercised at the end of each level. The answers can be found online.
All in all, I found this book to be readable and well-laid out. (Take a highlighter to it if you need to!)

I'm a beginning student of German, and am about half-way through the book. It's great, even for a beginner like me.

(I'm using a 1967 edition that I found at a thrift store for 25 cents. Such a deal!)

I am a long-time student of German, and lived and studied in Germany for three years. I was taking private lessons for the six months prior to my first move there, and this book was the only one my teacher and I used. She insisted that I have a strong foundation in German grammar, claiming that the "vocabulary would come". She was right. With the proper understanding of German grammar, you will quickly know what to do with the new words you learn. This book is excellent and brief, and will give you all the fundamentals you need to speak correct German.

Every time I return to Germany, I spend a week with this book just to get my grammar gears greased. I am a little overwhelmed by the price! I just dug out my copy, which I bought fifteen years ago: [price] at the Cal State Northridge bookstore!

I had Mr. Yanak before and he's one of the greatest people I've ever met. If you want anything on American History, get this book. Anything American is in there. It is especially helpful in the 8th grade and it will never let you down. If you've never met Mr. Yanak, he's a great person and a great teacher. The Great American History Fact-Finder has everything, I can't stress that enough, it's great!

This book was very helpful back in High School as an AP US History student. I still use this book frequently at the undergraduate level. I use it for history papers, social science papers, and general reference. Although a good overall reference, it is by no means definitive. Several "key" terms are not addressed.

If it happened in American History it's in here. A great reference book for any 8th or 11th grader by a man who is an expert at teaching kids ( I should know, I had him as a teacher)
Brief, but descriptive articles about everything american.

If you have a question about English or American literature, chances are you'll find the answer here. William Harmon, professor of English at the University of North Carolina has revised and updated this handbook, long popular in academia. He's added more than 100 entries which reflect current trends in literature and criticism.

If you don't have a student at home, get this book anyway. Read it. Just the outline of English and American literary history in the back of the book is worth the price. You undoubtedly will find books here you never knew existed. I thought I'd read all of Eudora Welty, for instance, but I found a "new" title listed here -- new to me, at least. I also discovered a James Gould Cozzens book I'd never heard of.

The handbook is actually an encyclopedia of words and phrases pertaining to the study of literature. Listings are defined, explained and often illustrated. There are cross references. Appendices include complete lists of Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction, poetry and drama. The index of proper names in the back lists over 2,300 authors and prominent literary figures.

This book is a must for the home library. Also, it's entertaining as well as informative reading. You may well find yourself curled up with it, unwilling to tear yourself away.

I love this book because it has complete, concise definitions of every literary facet you can think of. I have used it as a study tool for my certification tests, as a quick look up tool before tests, and as a way to explain difficult literary terminology to my students. I cannot stress how badly English teachers (and anyone else who loves literature) needs this book!

With the possible exception of my Roget's Thesaurus, this was the most useful reference in my pursuit of a BA in English Lit and Art History. This was recommended by one of my professors and it served me very well.

Easy-to-use alphabetical format allows reader to look up terms essential to the analysis of literature, and is highly useful to students of other humanities. The definitions are easy to digest but are quite thorough and supply sufficient context. Take this to college and use it often. An excellent tool for your research and writing.

I just met Mrs. Byrne's dictionary at the home of a linguist. A houseful of brilliant linguists, and almost none had heard of any of the words. But they laughed and enjoyed them tremendously. Now I'm ordering a copy.

Though the author's intro says that all the words have been found in at least one reputable dictionary, some of these appear to be nonce words (no more established in use than a sniglet), while others are merely obscure. But both kinds are entertaining!

Try putting that in a single's ad and see what kind of response you get!

Mrs Byrnes has collected some of the most outrageous, unusual (for the most part) words you have ever read. This book is great for starting a party or an argument, writing up silly tests to send over the internet to your friends and winning items from radio shows. Radio shows in my area tend to ask questions such as "What is gephyrophobia?" so the listener can call in and win a prize. Sometimes the folks make up the answers ("Fear of a geography test?") but it's easy to win when you can look on page 83 and see it means "fear of crossing bridges".

This book is also helpful while playing Scrabble, especially if you play with a person who tends to come up with unusual words - if it's not in the Oxford and it's not in this book, it doesn't count for points in Scrabble.

So buy this book and entertain your friends, torment your co-workers and tease your fellow Scrabble players with bits of information gleaned from this excellent reference book. Your friends will think you're a renable renardinstead of a logastellus lout if you use this book properly.

*redhaired word-lover

A wonderful resource for logophiles who have already searched through a standard unabridged dictionary. If you love words, you will love this book.

This is a book that you'll love. There's a lot of things to learn in it and some terms you probably can't listen anymore. A perfect book for a really baseball fan !

This baseball dictionary is clear, concise and helpful, particularly for people like me. I love baseball, but when I was growing up, girls weren't raised on sports, so I became a fan with sketchy knowledge of the rules and nuances of the game. Since I bought this book, I've learned a lot about pitching maneuvers, stats, history of the sport, slang terms and dozens of other things that make baseball more and more interesting to watch. I'm very glad I own it.

In baseball, what is a crackerjack? A cradle? A drawing Card? Feel the apple means what? What happens when you go to the pump? Who made up Murderers' Row? Open the New Dickson Baseball Dictionary and you'll find out.

This A to Z complete listing of baseball term is about the best book on the subject there is. Paul Dickson has put together over 570 pages of facts, terms, definitions and trivia that are sure to please every baseball fan.

Filled with over 100 photos and illustrations you are sure to find just about every baseball word you can think of. Also included are a thesaurus, a section of abbreviations and a fully annotated bibliography.

The baseball purest is sure to love this book as a gift, and it is priced to meet most budgets. Overall this book is great reading and makes the perfect handy reference book!

If this is your first Chinese book, it's kind of fun, but it doesn't take you very far. If you really want to learn Chinese, there are a lot better books than this. This is more of a stocking stuffer/[bathroom] book.

Not exactly a text on Chinese characters, this pocketbook is a great starter for those who have a curiosity of how Chinese writing works and don't want to be burdened with the extraneous info found in a serious textbook. Seventy-one characters frequently encountered by tourists are introduced but you'll wind up learning much more than that because many of these characters are also used in combination to form new compound words. The format is well-designed and makes the book fun and easy to use without being too simplistic. You'll learn the traditional and simplified form of the character, how these characters are rendered in the Western alphabet (i.e. the pinyin), and, thankfully towards the back of the book, how to write the character. Throughout the book are cultural tidbits and photographs of signs, ticket stubs, stamps, and advertisements which contains the characters introduced. This little book will take the intimidation out of trying to learn what far too many Westerners find as beyond their capacity to understand.

For the most part, Chinese is really two languages - a written one and a spoken one. One really cannot "sound out" written Chinese Characters, like they can with English. Most books for travelers to China dwell on the spoken language. This is actually a very good idea, because it helps you communicate and get around. But this book is different and fun, because it concentrates on Chinese characters which are beautiful and interesting.

I lived in the city of Shenyang, China for almost a year and a half. I dealt with a lot of Chinese people and Westerners that had been there for varying lengths of time. The Westerners had varying levels of oral Chinese language skills, but it was very rare for me to find a Westerner who knew how to read Chinese. The Westerners that I knew who could read Chinese were for the most part long time scholors on the topic or they learned it from their Chinese relatives.

I read this book, and learned most of the characters in it. I could not even come close to reading a magazine or newspaper, even those for children. But, I knew more Chinese characters than 95% of the Westerners that I knew in China. Most of these foreigners would be impressed when I could read the little I did. For most of the Chinese people I met, I was the only Westerner that they ever met who could read even a few characters. I'd figure a sign out, and they could not believe it. This skill was a great conversation topic, and I soon learned several other characters in the conversations that I had with the locals.

For the most part, this book is not required reading for someone who travels to China. In places where a lot of Westerners travel, many signs are in English, or pin-yin, or "Chinglish" (poor translations from Chinese to English.) But when I went to places less traveled, I can tell you that it was nice to be able to read the sign on the restroom door so I did not get into an embarrassing situation. (I had plenty of other embarrassing experiences without going into the wrong public toilet.)

I highly recommend the book. Have fun!

This wonderful little book was presented to me many years ago after I had completed a Latin seminar. It was a wonderful gift, and I have found much use for the various phrases, and an extraordinary amount of humour that can be derived from the blandest of statements when translated into Latin. For example, the innocuous phrase 'Darn! There goes my beeper!' becomes quite funny in Latin:

Heu! Tintinnuntius meus sonat!

One has visions of Caesar fumbling through his tunic for some beeping object.

So, if you need a little Latin on the golf course (Alterum ictum faciam); on the tennis court (minime latum!), at the beach when spotting a shark (Pistrix! Pistrix!), or you just need to say Illud Latine dici non potest (you can't say that in Latin), you'll be prepared with this volume.

It even comes with a section on what to say when at the Vatican (where it might truly come in handy). For instance you might need to say 'Ubi possum potiri petasi similis isti?' when passing a cardinal or nun (translation: Where can I get a hat like that?).

So, don't waste your time on watching reruns of Insula Gilliganis or game shows such as Periculum and Rota Fortunae -- pick up this book today, and merge the worlds past and present.

Die dulci fruere. (Have a nice day.)

. . . but that's only because the common rabble would have loved it! Henry Beard has given the Latin enthusiast (and aspiring perennial pest) a laugh-a-minute phrasebook that tells you how to say just about everything from "Darn! There goes my beeper!" to "I'll have a hamburger, French Fries, and a thick shake." The entries are all conveniently sorted out into twelve categories -- separated by some really funny drawings -- such as "Lingua Latina Conlocutioni" (Conversational Latin) and "Lingua Latina Vitae Communi" (Social Latin), which makes finding the perfect greeting, or insult, a lot easier. There's even a handy little pronunciation guide so you'd be able to say what you want in perfect Latin. So the next time you find yourself in ancient Rome, be ready to beat the loquacious Cicero down with some good old-fashioned small talk by having a copy of "Lingua Latina Occasionibus Omnibus" tucked somewhere in your toga!

This is a rather unusual book, with all manner of everyday and bizarre sayings nicely translated into Latin for your amusement/education/use at a dinner party. Just as with his very funny "French for Cats", the real humour lies in the really odd things he has taken the time to translate - things like "I believe that Elvis is still alive".

It is a good fun coffee table book, and a must for any serious collector of great humour books.