# Any wealthy dopers are free to purchase for me a Compact OED

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 5, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205 "2004-11-05T16:35:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/1 "2004-11-05T16:35:27Z")

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Just letting you know. Amazon is listing it for $268.60, a not unreasonable sum—if you’re wealthy.

I would _really_ appreciate it. Go ahead and send me an email if you want to drop the coinage on a random stranger for a desire that is considerably less important than life-saving. (I think that last sentence makes obvious the reason why I was never any good at retail sales.)

Regards,

js\_a compact OED would be great\_africanus

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/2 "2004-11-05T16:37:42Z")

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Feh! I’ll get me a good 'murrican dictionary. Costco has the unabridged Websters a hell of a lot cheaper.

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**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/3 "2004-11-05T16:39:37Z")

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[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) is free.

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**Author:** ![leroy\_the\_mule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@leroy\_the\_mule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leroy_the_mule)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/4 "2004-11-05T17:12:09Z")

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Yeah, I love my OED. You can buy it for [$95.00](http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=2602801&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1), which is not too bad. I got mine for $20 through the Duluth classifieds. The guy who sold it lived above a bar and smelled like beer.

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**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/5 "2004-11-05T18:08:35Z")

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I’m confused by that site. It says volumes I-IV and then volume 3, gives a date of '87 while the items offered are '71 or '87, while the Amazon new one is '91. Do the '87 & '91 versions just have updates to the major overhaul of the OED that happened earlier?

(And why is Webster’s Unabridged one volume while the OED full size is 20 volumes?)

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**Author:** ![leroy\_the\_mule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@leroy\_the\_mule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leroy_the_mule)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/6 "2004-11-05T18:24:28Z")

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The one I have is called the “Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary”, and comes in a box of two volumes with a magnifying lens to read the microscript. It was first published in 1971; the one I have is the 26th printing, 1987. As I remember, the Book-of-the-Month Club offered them for less than $100 in exchange for a new membership. The full-size OED is 20 volumes, and costs lots o’ money.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wealthy-dopers-are-free-to-purchase-for-me-a-compact-oed/273205/7 "2004-11-05T18:34:21Z")

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> [@leroy\_the\_mule](#):
>
> Yeah, I love my OED. You can buy it for [$95.00](http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=2602801&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1), which is not too bad. I got mine for $20 through the Duluth classifieds. The guy who sold it lived above a bar and smelled like beer.

$20 AND it smelled like beer? You lucked out there!