Re: Oh ! ! You mean SURREAL

In a message dated 11/4/06 6:09:37 am, john.grocott403@ntlworld.com writes:

> it is still mystifying how all of this could possibly be known without
> recourse to the use of a dictionary
>
>

John

No, I do not mean surreal  which was an art movement which distorted reality
rather than intensifying it. One of the great masters of the movement was
Dali. Take a look at his dream pictures. Go to County Hall,the place is full of
Dali's work.

I have many dictionaries and I am using them all the time to cross check
definitions, check spellings and usage or  to discover new words. it is one of the
great excitements of being privileged to have English as one's mother tongue.
The language grows and changes. It is not set in one edition of a Collins
dictionary however good that may be..

All these prefixes are in dictionaries. You hear them all the time on the
radio or TV or read them in the papers.

Hyper is the word 'hype' comes from,  that even appears on the front page of
The Sun. The problems of hypothermia come up every winter.

Try looking at a number of dictionaries. Chambers might be a good start, we
have four editions of Chambers in the house,  then the shorter Oxford or even
the complete Oxford and a Websters.. Get yourself a thesaurus.

Try Fowlers 'The King's English' and Gowers on English usage. Try Leo Rost
en's dictionary on Yinglish to see how a dictionary can be informative and very
funny.

You need an instruction book to run your car or operate your camera. The
English language is richer and more complicated than either of those. Explore it
and enjoy it.

Terry
Received on Tue Apr 11 04:42:59 2006