Dictionary Reviews

I tried to be first person to get my mitts on Medical Briefs by Laurie Boucke. I couldn't wait to get it. And I was not disappointed. That's an understatement. I was thrilled to see how extensive it is.

It is so good that while scoping or editing, this book suffices for a medical dictionary, but it goes one HUGE step further. It gives you fabulous writing ideas for these words, so that next time on this job or a similar job, these wonderful outlines might very well pop into your mind.

Just a few examples that are worth the price of admission alone:

shortness of breath = SHORB fibrillation = FIBLGS atrial = TRAL atrial fibrillation = TRABLGS dypsnea = SPAOE cyanosis = SNOSZ or SNOESZ (snows = SNOEZ) cyanotic = SNOKT or SNAUKT

Actually Laurie gives multiple choices for these words. I've just given my choice.

A wonderful book to have on the shelf for those anoying times when a word is driving you NUTS.

The accompanying book, Volume 2, is a fabulous listing of prefixes and suffixes, in both steno order and English order.

So, my dear fellow court reporters or court reporting student or anyone looking to buy a great gift for one of us, this is a great idea. I would *not* want to be without mine!

Laurie Boucke's latest contribution to court reporters is outstanding -- a two-volume set of one- and two-stroke, conflict-free medical briefs based on a compilation of Dorland's, Taber's, and Stedman's medical dictionaries. With multiple steno outlines to choose from for most words, you're sure to find the right brief for your particular writing style.

If time-savers such as temporomandibular = TROBL, temporomandibular joint = TROINT, and temporomandibular joint syndrome = TROINTS turn you on, you're in for a real treat!

Truly, this is an awesome addition to a reporter's tools of the trade.

This little book has been a most valuable addition to my library. Wouldn't leave home or office without it!

I am a student studying to be a medical assistant and this book is wonderful. It is small enough you can carry it to every class with you and will be helpful when you join the workforce. It has alot of information like abbreviations, acronyms for healthcare organizations and much, much more.

I like the price as well. Medical books are usually very [costly] but this is exactly what I was looking for at a great price.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone.

Quite simply this is the best pocketbook on the market in this category. Superb. Contains vast amount of useful information for all medical and healthcare staff/workers. It is of superb design. Even the font used is one of a kind (Easy to read). I do not agree with the reviewr from Doody that it should be of spiral format as this would make it uncomfortable to handle, especially when placing in shirt pocket or lab coat pocket. Again, if you are looking for a book of this kind than I strongly recommend this pocketbook.

You can actually learn some spanish from this pocketbook unlike most other books of its kind which only translate minimal amount of words. If you are planning to buy a dictionary/pocketbook of this kind than I strongly recommend this pocketbook. For all medical and healthcare workers.

Anyone who provides any sort of medical service to Spanish-speaking patients absolutely cannot do without this valuable book. In an arena where communication is of such critical importance, any type of language barrier can be disastrous. This book is cleverly designed to provide the essential information for effective communication, and its ring-binding and small size are perfectly designed to be easily carried around the hospital or clinic. Medical Spanish is a brilliant, comprehensive book that is a valuable tool to the medical profession, especially in places like California, where so many different cultures (and thus languages) are present. Moreover, the authors of this book are inspirational, wonderful women. If anyone ever has the opportunity to meet either of them, take it, it will be a treat.

This book is very helpful for the medical provider to assist him/her in communicating with Spanish-speaking patients in their rooms of the hospital, in a clinical setting or a doctor's office. The bilingual translations help the provider to speak with the monolingual patient and give necesssary instructions or ask important questions to accomodate the patient.

Easy print to read - a big help!! hehee. A-Z of interesting medieval words, giving all sorts of little details that historical writers just love, though lacking dates of origin of the words.

Also, of interest to people just interested in the period.
A Must for any SCA-er!!!

A wonderful book of medieval words and their meanings. With diagrams and drawings scattered about.

I have found this a very handy book when needing words and their meanings that have fallen into disuse, but much needed by writers of period pieces.

I had a set similar to this years ago, which became dog-eared & yellowed with constant use. I replaced them with this 3-book set & the Vocabulary Builder is the best part of this set. My husband & I both love learning new words, so we'll often sit & quiz each other from this new set of books. I also use them as quick references in my writing and business ventures. The dictionary is great as an alternative to the official scrabble dictionary (when we get tired of the seemingly made up words that can't be found in any other dictionary). Maybe I'm just strange--I did read dictionaries & thesauruses for fun as a child & teen.
This set is an excellent value for the money & will be referred to & used again & again. No home or office should be without this reference set.

Every home needs to be equiped with certain items. A dictionary and thesaurus are two of those items. When looking to purchase these items I went with a name I trusted, Merriam Webster. I decided to purchase the complete set because I found it interesting that it included a vocabulary builder. My family and I choice a word a day from the informative books and use it as much as possible. We enjoy picking a word from the vocab builder, then looking it up in the dictionary. We use the thesaurus to find similar words, and words that mean the complete opposite. The choices are endless. I have yet heard a word that can not be found in one of the three books. Unlike most thesaurus' this version has almost every word. It was surprising, because often with thesaurus' the choices are limited. This is one problem that I have yet to run into. I plan to purchase a few copies for family members and friends that are graduating in this year. My fiance even mentioned that we need our own set when we get married.

Did you know that John Grisham served for a few years in the Mississippi state legislature while he was practicing law? Or, that Walter Mosley worked as a potter and computer programmer before his first novel, "Devil In A Blue Dress" (1990) was published? Has anyone told you that Peter Matthiessen is a Navy veteran, that he attended Yale and the Sorbonne before joining forces with George Plimpton to form the Paris Review in 1953?

What about the early cowboy classic, "The Virginian"? Isn't it surprising that the author of this adventure, Owen Wister, was a Harvard Law School graduate who grew up among intellectuals? When reading the poetry of Ezra Pound, how many know that he was once returned to the United States from Italy and tried for treason?

All of that information and so much more is found in The Dictionary of American Writers, the official companion to the C-Span series "American Writers: A Journey Through History." It is a veritable treasure trove of information about authors from the early 1600s to the present day. Few of us read without wondering about our favorite writers - the facts are here in easily accessible form.

This volume includes over 1600 entries presented in alphabetized format. Divided into three sections, it begins with author biographies, and is followed by descriptions of significant literary works starting with "Abe Lincoln In Illinois" and concluding with "The Zoo Story." More than 500 works of literature are found in this division.

The final section, "Groups, Movements, and Periodicals" holds 75 entries and covers such landmark gatherings as the Algonquin Round Table, and many influential magazines including The New Yorker.

Students, teachers, and editors will, of course, relish the data found in this thoughtfully prepared volume. It holds equal fascination for literature aficionados - those who love to read will welcome this comprehensive collection of information about the authors who have affected their lives, and given them countless hours of pleasure.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Of American Writers is a very highly recommended addition to any personal or academic literary studies reference collection. The more than 1600 entries are illustrated with more than 150 photographs and arranged in three principle sections: Biographies of over 1100 of America's greatest novelists, poets, playwrights, and historians; Synopses of more than 500 important literary works; and entries for 75 of the most important literary groups, movements, and influential periodicals. A superbly presented guide to a rich literary tradition, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Of American Writers was created in cooperation with the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Merriam-Webster French-English Dictionary offers more than 80,000 entry words and phrases organized with clear, concise definitions. Of special interest are the sections on "Nations of the World", "Metric Conversions", and "Sample Correspondence" (including email) that will prove invaluable for business travelers and vacationers. International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciations are providers, as are introductions to french and English grammar, tables of regular and irregular verbs, French and English abbreviations. The Merriam-Webster French-English Dictionary is an indispensable aid for traveling through France, as well as a core reference title for personal and school French language reference collections.

The Merriam-Webster's French-English Dictionary was a great buy for my husband and I. My husband who is American wanted to be able to communicate with my family overseas. So I started to look for a Dictionary in order to help me teach. What I was finding is that alot of the Dictionary's where to complicated for someone who was starting to learn the lanquage. Then I found the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and was very impressed on how simple and helpful this Dictionary is. With the help of the Dictionary my husband has greatly progressed in his french. I recommend this Dictionary for anyone who is trying to learn the lanquage or who just needs a good Dictonary to help them translate words. You will find the Merriam Webster's French-English Dictionary simple to use and each word comes with a clear and helpful pronunciation. The purchase of this Dictionary is a buy you will not regret.

Dennis E. McGee book, "Messages from God - A Forensic Study of the Hebrew Alphabet" is hearty meat for hungry souls. This is a book you must eat very slowly because of it rich content. I recommend this book to all who like the deep things of the LORD. Dennis paints for us pictures by using the Hebrew and Aramaic letters, which are the original languages of the Older Covenant (Old Testament). The Ancient Hebrew letters do much more to teach us about who the Messiah is, than anything else I know of. Each letter an Ancient picture or ideogram, showing us the deep truths of God. God's holy Word is literal, and the Word pictures give credence to the literal text. I know you will enjoy this wonderful book, I did.

You will not find another book like this anywhere. This book is a "must" for any serious student of the Bible. It is a demanding book, because of its exhaustive effort on the subject, but the person who wishs to know God's Word in a deeper way will be greatly rewarded. Dennis McGee writes in a simple, direct, easy to read style that helps make an involved subject easy to understand. The author even provides references necessary for the reader to pursue their own study. Unlike books like "The Bible Codes", Mr. McGee has captured a profound concept concerning the Scriptures that lacks the usual sensationalism associated with such books. This book challenges the reader on a devotional level to a greater appreciation of God's Word, and illustrates beyond the shadow of a doubt the Bible's divine inspiration and authenticity, showing the very order and arrangement of the letters in the Bible to be "God breathed".

I bought this book in conjunction with Barron's Law Enforcement Spanish kit. "Mexican Spanish - The Rough Guide" is an outstanding pocket reference! I learned to conjugate verbs very easily given the simple description in the Rough Guide. I particularly like the contextual listings for words in the dictionary section. Very useful! I have several other Spanish books and dictionaries, and they are gathering dust now. I highly recommend this book.

On my first extensive trip through Mexico, I found this book (along with "The People's Guide to Mexico") to be far more useful than any regular Spanish (meaning, almost always, Castillian) dictionary. In fact, I found it to be much more relevant than the Rough Guide to Mexico! My only regret is that the book isn't longer. It's actually a lot of fun to read. I especially appreciated that it includes many conversational phrases, not just single words. Considering that like English, Spanish isn't particularly literal as spoken actually spoken, books like this are a must for those of us still learning that beautiful language. More to the point, guides to Mexican Spanish are in unduly short supply. This one's a boon and a bargain.