Death of a standard?

This is the (sad) reality of lexicography. I use both versions of the OED, the online at work and the printed at home. Even if the first one is a joy to use compared to many other online dictionaries, it can't beat the feeling of the 20 thick volumes in my bookcase!
 
I'm saddened.

One of the joys of searching for a word in the printed version of the OED was finding other interesting words on the same page, or in the search for that word.

John
 
photogdave said:
Kind of like searching for a certain frame in your negatives often leads to seeing an old forgotten shot in a new way!
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Exactly.

Reminds me of a comment I once read about Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, which went something like:

"You probably won't find what you're looking for amongst its pages, but you will find several far more interesting things!"

John
 
Isn't this a bit like film is dead and Leica is dead? The word may features heavily and that word usually translates as non story. In any case, how many people own the full set? One volume or two volumes on paper is enough for most users. The story reads more like a push for webscribers than anything.
 
If you want a definitive record of the English language, just buy the plays of Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. Any word you might want to use that isn't there isn't worth using.
 
I have the compact version with tiny print, a real treat, and read with the magnifying dome. I enjoy a book on the physical printed page.
 
1ScrewLoose said:
"Remember the firemen are rarely necessary. The public stopped reading of its own accord." -- Fahrenheit 451
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Note that people nowadays people read more than ever before, it's just that they do much of it online.

And they're not phasing out the OED, they're phasing out the printed edition.

And I wonder if the idea would be all that final anyway, because there is a sizeable target demographic that likes things old, traditional and tangible - possibly not a lot of people, but many of them quite wealthy. Producing printed "snapshot" editions every few years might be well worth it.
 
PKR said:
I thought the "real' OED was (I don't remember the correct number) 11 volumes?
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The first edition of the OED, called A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, was published in 1928 in ten volumes. In 1933, there was a one-volume supplement, and at this time the original dictionary was reprinted in twelve volumes and re-named the Oxford English Dictionary. A four-volume supplement was published between 1972 and 1986, and in 1989 there was an integrated Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition in twenty volumes. This is the current printed version of the OED.
 
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