Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary

by Marc McCutcheon

Book Overview

Praise for the previous edition: ..".a useful reference source..."--American Reference Books Annual This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816024871
• ISBN13: 9780816024872
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Facts on File
• Length: 476 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.4" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

Not excited about this reference source.

Lacks so much. Here are some examples, Under Military: there's no mention of mercenaries, bivouac (a common military term) and the list of ranks includes only officers. Under House Styles: there's no mention of antebellum, rustic, ranch or art deco Under Transportation: there's a lot on cars, but I guess this was written before motorcycles were invented These are just a few examples of how incomplete this is. I guess it's okay for what it does have, but the other description dictionaries I have are far more useful and complete.

It is what is says to a T

The Descriptionary is exactly what is says, "The book for when you know what it is, but not what it's called." Though the book isn't an absolute, fail-safe way of finding everything and anything, it does have a wide variety of terms and ranges. Being a writer, I've found that this book has saved me a lot of grief. If I need to be educated about the kinds of rocks that can be found in caves, all I have to do is look up caves and it gives me the name and description of as many cave related things as they could possibly think of. It saves me from having to do a mountain of research on a subject that I touch on for only a few pages. It also has some slang that is not usually seen in the dictionary, such as what "BTW" means in those IM messages. Fast, easy, and since I'm a bookworm, fun as well. It can't get much better than that.

A great resource for writers.

Pardon my bluntness, but this book is fantastic to have around when you're having a 'brain fart'. I found my copy at a thrift store about five years ago, but having just this evening needed to pull it out for an answer, I thought I'd post a review about how indispensable it's been to me over the years. It's a great book if you're clueless and you need to sound like you know what you're talking about. I wrote a story once about army doctors and the "Military" and "Medicine" sections were my bible during that time. I wrote a story about pirates and the "Naval" and "Sailing" sections were my go to, then. Just tonight I was writing a description of an attic and couldn't remember what those little windows that stick out of sloping roofs are called. I flipped to the "Architecture" section and within maybe ten seconds, after skimming two pages, I had my answer. Dormer windows. They're called dormer windows. Thank you, Descriptionary!

Love It

I love this book! Everyone must get it ASAP. You will learn believe me.

Needs to be available for every high school student

This wonderful book has the subtitle, "The book for whn you know what it is, but not what it's called". This means it is dictionary of sorts but arranged thematically. I, for example, had no idea I was guilty of the crime of altiloquence or that sometimes I commit the sin of heterophemy. That little jewel has two meanings: (1) The incorrect use of a word similar in spelling or pronunciation to another... cinammon for synomym" or (2) the use of euphemism with a pregnant pause. The sections are joys to peruse - architecture, divided into such categories as Native American, windmills, etc. Police, sailing, sports, religion, sports, biology, cosmology - you name it and there is a list of related words and definitions. The book is a beauty in its own right - well written, large writing, arranged simply and orderly. A real delight.

It's on the tip of my tongue...

De.scrip.tion.ary, n., a big book of words arranged in a common sense order designed to help the reader find an unknown word. Similar to dictionary and thesaurus, with key differences. Many times, people have the word just on the tip of their tongues, but cannot find the word. Dictionaries are often no help in such instances. Despite the wealth of information contained therein, and the imminently logical organisation (the same goes for a thesaurus), often what is needed is more of a reverse directory. Indeed, comedians past and present have made entire routines out of the difficulties of using a dictionary (how does one look up the spelling of a word if one doesn't know how to spell it?). While these difficulties have doubtless been exaggerated, there is definitely room on the reference shelf for a book such as the Descriptionary, a wonderful resource for finding just the right word from a definition. `A standard dictionary will tell you the meaning of a word, a thesaurus will give you a list of synonyms, but only Descriptionary directs you straight to the word itself.' The Descriptionary is arranged thematically. These themes are developed and arranged by broad category, narrowing the field of research for any given word search. Under each broad theme, there are literally thousands of words. The definitions are not lengthy, but just of sufficient length to permit identification. - Animals and Insects - Architecture - Clothing - Electronics - Environment - Finance - Food and Drink - Human Body and Mind - Language - Law - Magic and the Occult - Medicine - Military - Music - Occupations - Performing Arts - Religions - Sports - Tools - Transportation - Weapons However, thousands of words per category would still make for a daunting task of location of just the right word. Therefore, each major theme is broken into smaller sections, and yet smaller subsections. Take, for instance, the organisation under the heading Religions: Religions ..Ancient Religions ....Ancient Egyptian Worship ....Greek and Roman Mythology ....Monsters and Fabulous Creatures ..Modern Religions ....Buddhism ....Christianity ....Hinduism ....Islam ....Judaism Perhaps it will be your dharma to forget the term for enlightenment (under Buddhism, nirvana), or perhaps your searching requires some cutting edge information (under Judaism, see mohel). You needn't be gifted in speaking in tongues (glossolalia, under Christianity) to find the right word here. Each subsection contains a few hundred words, which makes the Descriptionary very useful for looking up related and relevant terms in any area. Rather than having to fumble through a dictionary for hoped-for connexions based on definitions, one has in one compact list all of the major terminology for each category and subcategory. In very few dictionaries would one be able to find the connexions between the words ablation, drift, horn, striation, and trimline (they all have to do with glaciers). The index is wonderful for pinpointing