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Get to More Than Definitions in Dictionary.app
Posted by Gina Trapani at 7:00 AM on April 15, 2008
Mac OS X Leopard only: Reader Ben points out that there's a lot more to Mac OS X's built-in Dictionary than definitions. He writes in:
I just noticed that in Dictionary.app (at least in Leopard), under to "Go" menu, there is an option labelled "Front/Back Matter." Clicking this brings up a whole slew of useful reference material, including a language guide (complete with a list of clichés to avoid), a list of the chemical elements, and the text of the Constitution. Next time I'm on a place, I think I'm going to brush up on the Bill of Rights.It's true: the Ready Reference area of Dictionary.app's Front/Back Matter is a treasure trove of good stuff for writers or anyone who wants to see if they can name the capital of all fifty states in the U.S. Thanks, Ben!
Tags: dictionary | leopard | mac os x | mac os x leopard | mac tip
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Daniel Griscom
Posted 7:25 AM 15/4/08
It's not in Tiger's Dictionary.app...
Daniel Griscom
Lula Mae Broadway
Posted 8:26 AM 15/4/08
Thesaurus bug in Word: When I click on Thesaurus in Word, it doesn't show me synonyms - it gives me encarta dictionary definitions, and then under that is Thesaurus, and and empty window where the resonses should be. If I click on the click on the middle bar that says "Theasaurus" and then synonyms appear.
This is a new bug - anyone know this one?
Thoughts? Help?
And thanks for the Dictionary tip!
Lula Mae Broadway
jrmontag
Posted 8:25 AM 15/4/08
my Front/Back menu (10.5.2) has only "New Oxford American Dictionary"
how do I get all the goodies?
jrmontag
Jigzila
Posted 8:18 AM 15/4/08
Don't you mean "on a plane" not "on a place" :)
Jigzila
Parker
Posted 8:02 AM 15/4/08
I love discovering goodies on my computer that I didn't know were there! Of course, on the other hand, I sometimes wonder how much of my precious disk space is wasted on ones I'll never find. At least this particular collection is just text. Thanks for the tip!
Parker
Gideon
Posted 9:10 AM 15/4/08
@jrmontag: Me either.
Great that Wikipedia is an option in the basic dictionary, though.
Gideon
RLH
Posted 10:14 AM 15/4/08
Sadly, much of the interesting content is difficult to read (e.g., Chemical Elements) as the columns don't line up. They either need some tab characters or should have done them in a fixed width font...
RLH
Peter Cavan
Posted 11:16 AM 15/4/08
@jrmontag: Scroll down in the dictionary view and you'll see the "Ready Reference" heading and all the good stuff below that. I remember having a dictionary when I was growing up that had all that information at the back, so it might all just come with the text version of the New Oxford Dictionary.
Peter Cavan
VizionQuest
Posted 1:26 PM 15/4/08
I've found Visual Thesaurus and Googlepedia to be very useful as well.
ToMuse.com
VizionQuest
Prolific Programmer
Posted 3:08 AM 16/4/08
Oddly enough, my Dictionary.app's Go menu has the Front/Back option greyed out. How do I enable this? Please leave a comment at my blog. Many thanks!
Prolific Programmer
cde
Posted 3:37 AM 16/4/08
cde
maq
Posted 11:57 PM 15/4/08
is it possible to add other languages than english to the dictionary?
maq
nikkirosety
Posted 5:33 PM 17/4/08
@jrmontag: Me too... =( How terrible.
nikkirosety