The Infernal Dictionary Test 2007

I’ve been trying to buy a new dictionary and have been paralyzed with the choice. At the university bookstore there are at least 20 to choose from, different styles from 5 different publishers – it’s the usual suspects: Oxford, Macquarie, Penguin, Webster’s, etc.

Of course they try to provide guidance by assigning levels of depth to dictionaries: concise, abridged, collegiate, pocket. And there are editions and publication years to look out for. Some say you should look for dictionaries that include the current buzz words.

For my own money, I’ve developed what I call the Infernal Dictionary Test 2007: Open the dictionary to ‘infernal’ if there is a separate definition for ‘infernal machine,’ that’s the one to buy.

Kudos go to Angela Carter and her novel The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972), for necessitating my trip to the dictionary so long ago to discover the distinction.