Customer Reviews

Collins English Dictionary: 30th Anniversary Edition (Dictionary)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Collins English Dictionary is marvelous. This 30th anniversay edition includes lots of biographical and geographical information - just what the avid cruciverbalist needs. The only thing missing are the tables of weights, measures, areas, and distance, and their conversions, and the elements and plant/animal genus info. However there is a section relating to the most modern terms/slang which helps me understand the younger generation!

Just bought this edition after 20 years of not buying new versions of Collins. Not a surprising statement for most people, but crossword people are a bit different. I had two gripes with Collins in the past. First, sometime around 10 years ago, they decided to remove the entries about people - one of their big selling points, especially before the Oxford Dictionary of English appeared. So "Churchill" became just a town in Canada. These entries are now back and the encyclopaedic material is on a par with the ODE. Second, Collins put out a range of dictionaries with titles and covers so similar that you can very easily buy the wrong one. There's another book with "Collins English Dictionary" on the cover - apart from not having the "30th anniversary" badge and being smaller, it looks identical but isn't the real thing. This makes me wary of Collins as a dictionary publisher, but I'm reviewing the book rather than the publisher here.

If you make a side-by-side comparison with the excellent ODE, there's very little that's different - weight and size practically identical, Collins slightly thicker but that's down to the different paper - ODE has thinner and shinier paper which might possibly last better. Both have "pseudo thumb-indexing" - letter signs that bleed onto the edge of the page. Collins has headwords in blue as opposed to just in bold, which may make them a bit easier to see. Oxford has a little more on usage - it mentions "miniscule" as a popular mistake under "minuscule", Collins doesn't. ODE also seems to add a little more well-judged material than strictly necessary in the encyclopaedic entries - in Collins, the last history mentioned under Philippines is independence in 1946 - ODE mentions Marcos and Aquino. ODE does the same for a few entries that aren't proper nouns - "mystery play" gets a quick explanation mentioning the connections with trade guilds and particular towns.

Taking a quick vain look at the "peter...." entries, most are in both dictionaries. In Collins but not ODE: Peterlee (new town), Petermann Peak (in Greenland), Petersburg (Virginia). In ODE but not Collins: Peterborough ware (ancient pottery), Peterson (Oscar the pianist, Roger the ornithologist), Peter the Hermit (medieval Fr. monk) - so Collins is stronger on place names, and ODE on people.

For me, Oxford is better, but the differences are marginal. Both are very good, and both publishing houses will have to work very hard to find something to make their flagship one-volume dictionary noticeably better. How about Chambers? If you need it for difficult crosswords or literary and historic English, or like its style, Chambers is fine - but as records of modern-day English, Collins and Oxford are better for me.

This is the best dictionary I have ever come across, all other dictionaries I have come across are totally inadequate after seeing this one. I wish I had of had this one years ago, I have spent so much time putting up with inadequate ones. Whatever word you can think of you can find and many indepth explanations of the word are given. I have learned so much more about the english language from this book and a lot of words I never knew existed or their meanings. The only draw back is that the book is very large and heavy! However, that is obviously why it is so informative, indepth and provides what ever information you are going to need on the english language. Brilliant buy.

Amazed at the size, it is a weighty tome, but so full of information that it's a delight to own. Needing a new dictionary for my OU degree work I found this one to be the only 2010 edition - all others were 2007/2008.
A brilliant book at a brilliant price

Others complained of missing N and O - I have those pages but X and Y are missing ! Great shame because I really like the dictionary and would have awarded 5 stars otherwise. I just hope that the replacement being sent out does not suffer the same deficiency.

UPDATE...Dictionary was returned and Amazon furnished me with a replacement. I am happy now as the new copy looks complete. I have upped the star rating to reflect my satisfaction.

Collins really need to get a grip on this though and prevent badly printed copies from hitting the shelves. The fact a few others leaving feedback have suffered a similar fate does not bode well for their reputation. A quick way to see if there are missing pages is to look at the side of the book and make sure that the blue thumb index marks are properly stepped. If a step is missing or out of sequence you may have a problem.

good book, good value, lage size-heavy for a child-I bought for mine, may be a bit too much for a 8 yo otherwise-brilliant

Did not realise how old my existing book was until I received this wonderful Collins English Dictionary,it is so comprehensive and a joy to use.Thank you!

Excellent update on my 30 year old version. My daughter is pleased that some of the entries have been updated, as well as the new words now in it. An excellent reference for dad when reading the likes of 'Jeeves and Wooster' as well as getting up to speed on the language of today's youth.

I made contact with the company which sent the book and and had very good dealings with them - including a telephone conversation, I think there has been strange goings on because the company which Amazon said supplied the book was not the company which sent it. I do object to paying more than the price printed on the goods. Nor was the book the edition I had hoped for. I am looking for a copy of The Collins English Dictionary 2nd edition 1986 (or later

I contacted the company who suplied the book but they were not the same as the supplier quoted on Amazon. I had very good dealings with this cpompany - to the extent of a telephone call - and they could not explain the variation in price. All in all it was a most unsatisfacory experience. What I am actually looking for is a copy of the Collins English Dictionary, Second edition (or later) first published in 1986 and having 1771 pages

I was slightly disappointed as the dictionary I ordered showed on the front cover that it was a special 30th anniversary edition, but the book I received had no such indication. However, as it was a birthday present for my husband and I didn't have time to send it back I decided to keep it, after all, the contents would not be different. The dictionary is of great assistance to my husband who is a keen lover of crosswords. Maybe this time he will win something!!