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Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary (Facts on File Library of Language and Literature)
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About Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary
Product Description A revised and updated reference that combines elements of a reverse dictionary and a thesaurus provides thematically grouped definitions for terms relating to specific subjects, ranging from the environment and animals to the arts, clothing, and religion, with new sections on British terms, cooking, furniture, Internet chatting, organized crime, street slang, and more. Simultaneous. From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up–Updating the 2000 edition with revisions and a number of new or expanded sections, this topical dictionary arranges an estimated 20,000 specialized terms under a classified scheme of headers. The intent is to provide quick reference for writers looking for, say, a list of select hairstyles (bangs, Beatle cut, beehive, bob); baseball jargon (lumber, minors, moon shot, mustard); or rap lingo (mack, my nizzle, off the chain, phat). Entries are arranged alphabetically beneath each rubric and given succinct definitions. As in previous editions, McCutcheon closes with a thousand or so 50-cent words, from abdicate to zenith, that he recommends to heighten the general tone of a user's discourse. Both the word choice and the indexing are arbitrary; a long list of Greek and Roman gods does not include Hestia, for instance. More problematic, however, is the lack of illustrations, as textual descriptions of clothing, body parts, architectural elements, sports gear, medical instruments, or any physical items are seldom as clear as a simple picture would be. Deeper collections, and those serving creative writing programs, will find this a helpful resource, so long as it's used in conjunction with the likes of Reg Bragonier and David Fisher's What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World (Hammond, 1990; o.p. ). –John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist A small reference book with a large scope, the third edition of the Descriptionary succeeds, with minor disappointments. Divided into 24 topical sections, ranging from "Animals and Insects" to "Weapons," the volume aspires to provide the user with appropriate words related to certain concepts. For example, if a student wanted to know the name for "the area in the church where the congregation sits," a search in the "Religious Buildings" subsection of "Architecture" would provide the probable answer nave, along with other words that describe religious buildings and their many components, such as aguilla, narthex, and triforium. The "Language" section now includes definitions of street slang, including names of drugs, words used in rap music and urban conversation, and underworld patois. The new edition also includes terms used in physics and chemistry, a significant oversight of the second edition, as well as a new section on "Furniture." Young adults and college students will appreciate the republishing of "Words and Expressions You Should Know," a section that may prove useful while writing papers or preparing for standardized tests. Most of the text from the second edition has been lifted whole cloth and used in the new one. This is pardonable, given the invariably generic definitions of most words in the English language (a rose is a rose is a rose, after all). However, the author could have made several improvements. For example, the index does not include terms used in tables or lists, such as those for animal groups, international monetary units, geological time, medical fields, constellations, and baseball. The "Military" section lists definitions used mostly during the cold war and with the exception of cell and IED does not have common terminology related to 9/11 or the war on terror. "Computers" includes definitions of BASIC, mainframe, and floppy disk but overlooks client/server system, Linux, and flash drive. The "Language" section defines several rhetorical terms, including litotes and metonymy, but no mention is made of per
