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Post by auntieannie on Mar 19, 2012 22:12:08 GMT
Sometimes I am not sure if a word I want to use "is a word" ... if you know what I mean. an official word that I can use in my essays.
Well, I have found that looking at how many finds a search engine comes up with gives me a clue as to the validity of said word.
Lazy? maybe! effective, though!
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 20, 2012 0:44:01 GMT
Not lazy -- smart! I use www.wordreference.com/ all the time to check if something needs an accent when I'm writing in Spanish. I also use this dictionary, www.thefreedictionary.com/, for writing in English. Even so, the dictionary can be limited when it comes to showing different uses and shades of meanings for words. That's when google really shines. One thing search engines have done away with is that craziness caused by having a scrap of something stuck in your head & not being able to remember where it came from nor what the rest of it is. Just a scrap of a quotation stuck into a search engine will make the clouds part. |
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 20, 2012 10:51:16 GMT
 I agree on the scrap of quotation. it finds songs for you!
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 21, 2012 15:18:32 GMT
Often youtube can find the song from whatever line you remember. But back to validating a word ....... whenever I use google for that, I generally get a few sites that discuss the word, its historical usage, how it's misused, etc. Do I remember to bookmark those sites for the next elusive word?  |
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 21, 2012 17:19:20 GMT
happens to the best amongst us.
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Post by patricklondon on Mar 22, 2012 6:25:24 GMT
That's what search engines are for - but you have to use your common sense as to what's a reliable source of information once it's found it. (Numbers of citations, though, may not always be a good guide - what if they all only quote to the word to say it doesn't exist?!). I tend to use www.askoxford.com, though www.urbandictionary.com is quite useful - with a pinch of salt - as to current and ephemeral (and disreputable!) slang. And as for finding quotes, here's a case in point that settled something that had been occasionally niggling me for thirty or more years: autolycus-london.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/detective-work.html |
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 22, 2012 10:47:59 GMT
lovely story, Patrick!
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 23, 2012 22:57:22 GMT
I used your askoxford.com link to find out about vasodilation. I kept getting confused whether I was supposed to spell it as vasodilatation. Thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2012 23:04:53 GMT
I have noticed more than once about certain terms that the wrong term has more Google hits than the correct one.
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 24, 2012 10:51:14 GMT
thanks for the warning!
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 24, 2012 10:53:03 GMT
what really got me about this vasodilation, is that we say dilatation... so why not vasodilatation?
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Post by patricklondon on Mar 26, 2012 7:42:07 GMT
OED gives two different etymological origins, "dilation" from the original verb and "dilatation" from the Latin noun derived from the original verb, but gives "dilatation" as a specific medical usage for enlarging a vessel and "dilation" as having a more general meaning of opening or widening. Which one the medical professions choose to use for particular operations must be just a matter of accident and custom.
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