@Donna: Thank you. I hadn't realized the primacy of Cambridge dictionaries for ESL, and it's worth knowing for my purpose. Do people agree it's true for other languages besides Spanish?
AFAIK Oxford Dictionaries (on which I was brought-up) is nowadays USA-based. Cambridge Dictionaries still seems to be based in Cambridge, England. On Sat, Oct 20, 2018 at 3:47 AM Donna Y <[email protected]> wrote: > The most popular online dictionary site for learners of English in the > world: > > > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ < > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/> > > > From site or your browser--dictionary lookup and other features. > > The dictionaries that you can search together as English on this Cambridge > Dictionary website are: > > Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th Edition > > Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary > > Cambridge Business English Dictionary > > other related websites for grammar and translation etc. > > > Donna Y > [email protected] > > > > On Oct 19, 2018, at 4:58 PM, Roger Hui <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> "Do what you like but it doesn't do to do it all the time." > > > > Fluent English speakers are not usually aware of it, but "do" is one of > the > > more difficult English words. (For example, why do you say "What does > XXY > > mean?" instead of "What means XXY?") I was told this by my high school > > German teacher. The above sentence has no less than four occurrences of > > this difficult word. > > > >> Can anyone recommend a widely-used standard of technical English > >> that would gladden his heart to read? > > > > The following are not necessarily standards of technical English, being > > either not standard or not technical. But they are either suggestions on > > how to write clearly, or are examples of clear writing. If you can only > > read one I recommend the first. > > > > • Orwell, *Politics and the English Language > > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language>*, > 1946. > > • Falkoff and Iverson, *The Design of APL > > <https://www.jsoftware.com/papers/APLDesign.htm>*, 1973. > > • Falkoff and Iverson, *The Evolution of APL > > <https://www.jsoftware.com/papers/APLEvol.htm>*, 1978. > > • Strunk and White, *Elements of Style > > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style>*, 1959. (First > > published in 1919.) > > > > > > > > On Fri, Oct 19, 2018 at 10:39 AM Ian Clark <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> For Dr XXY, English is a second language. One of many. His first > language > >> has never been studied, let alone learnt, by an outsider: it is spoken > by > >> hardly anyone outside his village, but they've all saved up to send him > to > >> Harvard. > >> > >> Dr XXY is on the point of reconciling Quantum Theory with General > >> Relativity. > >> His English is now good enough to read a road-sign and to buy food > without > >> pointing – and to use the internet. > >> Especially to read the pearls of technical wisdom that fall from my pen. > >> Not for pleasure, I might add: he wants to know more about J. > >> > >> I want to be helpful, so I adopt a chatty tone. Yesterday I wrote: "Do > what > >> you like but it doesn't do to do it all the time." > >> It took Dr XXY an evening of intense investigation on ويكيبيديا to > discover > >> what I was actually saying. He did so on the off-chance it might turn > out > >> to be crucial. > >> A lifetime of deep study has taught him the importance of attending to > >> detail. > >> > >> Now Dr XXY is no dunce. > >> I am. (I used not to be, but as I get older it's getting worse.) > >> Dr XXY is not smart: he is super-smart. He holds the destiny of the > world > >> in his fingertips. I don't. > >> He is not grateful to me for wasting his time. It mortifies me to know > that > >> I do. > >> I'd have done better to write: > >> "You are free to adopt your own strategy, but it's not good to employ > this > >> idiom in every situation." > >> He'd have sussed that out in less than minute, using nothing but his > >> well-thumbed Websters. Because the words I used, although they were big > >> ones, were unambiguous. > >> > >> When I write technical stuff, Dr XXY is very much in my mind. > >> Can anyone recommend a widely-used standard of technical English that > would > >> gladden his heart to read? > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
