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On Mon, 11 May 2015 20:29:37 +0000 (UTC) |
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James <wireless@×××××××××××.com> wrote: |
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> »Q« <boxcars <at> gmx.net> writes: |
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> |
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> |
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> > tl;dr: Is an update to the myspell-en Oxford spelling dictionary |
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> > really wanted by anyone? |
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> |
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> Oxford is known as the 'the reference' for unabridged dictionaries in |
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> English (at least this is what some psychotic professors tortured us |
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> with, in English 101/102 some decades ago; leather helmets, dinosaurs |
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> etc)...... ymmv. |
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For meanings and etymology, the OED is the gold standard, but we're |
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just talking about spellchecking dictionaries here. The Oxford |
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spelling is *not* the spelling used by most of the UK. It's the |
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official spelling of the Oxford University Press and some academic |
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journals, such as /The Lancet/, and people writing for those |
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publications need it. Most Oxford dons don't use the Oxford spelling. |
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IOW, only people who have to write according to style guides which |
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explicitly specify Oxford spelling need an Oxford spellchecking |
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dictionary. |
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I'm interpreting the feedback from you and Joost to mean "yes we want a |
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good UK spelling dictionary", which you'll get. If it really is |
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*Oxford* spelling one of you needs, I need to hear a more specific |
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plea (e.g., "I write for The Lancet/"). |
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My mother has a Ph.D. in English Lit, and there was always a concise |
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OED around my house when I was growing up, but she was unaware of the |
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"Oxford spelling" until I asked her about it recently. |
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The main difference between standard UK spelling and Oxford spelling is |
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that Oxford spelling uses -ize endings (criticize, optimize) whereas |
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standard UK spelling uses -ise. Using Oxford will make most readers |
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think you're using American spelling, since Americans use -ize. |
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> I hope it is available system wide for a variety of apps? |
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Yes, these are system dictionaries. `equery d hunspell aspell enchant` |
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will probably show you most of the things on your system that use these |
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dictionaries. (I don't know what GNOME uses, but it probably depends |
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on either hunspell or aspell.) |
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