# My husband gave me an OED for my birthday! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623 "2004-10-28T05:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/1 "2004-10-28T05:39:25Z")
Yes, completely pointless, and I must share it. I got a compact Oxford English Dictionary! It’s got teeny-tiny type and a magnifying glass. It’s just what I’ve always wanted and never expected to own in the near future. I can look up any word I want, woohoo! Definitely one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten, ever. DangerDad is spiffy. Yay! (So I’m not very coherent. I’m too thrilled!) ---
**Author:** ![Moon-Watcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@Moon-Watcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moon-Watcher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/2 "2004-10-28T05:47:16Z")
Sweet! Is it the one-volume or two-volume edition? [sub]…can’t believe I said sweet in reference (heh) to a dictionary[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/3 "2004-10-28T11:37:34Z")
congrats!!! 😃 I’ve wanted one of those for a very long time. ::lynxgoesawaypouting:: ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/4 "2004-10-28T11:44:02Z")
My husband got me the 2 volume compact OED (yes, with magnifying glass) for our first wedding anniversary. Great minds apparently think alike! ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/5 "2004-10-28T12:02:20Z")
I’ve always wanted a subscription to the Oxford online but it’s £195. I’m not game to convert that to Aussie dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/6 "2004-10-28T12:13:26Z")
I nought a second-hand copy of the 12-volume OED in 1963 for 60 Australian pounds. One of the best investments I ever made: I still look at it at least once a week. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/7 "2004-10-28T12:27:24Z")
Hell’s teeth, Giles! Sixty quid was an awful lot of money in '63. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/8 "2004-10-28T12:43:05Z")
I’m up too early today. My first reaction to the thread title was “See a doctor and get rid of it.” Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/9 "2004-10-28T12:55:50Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Hell’s teeth, Giles! Sixty quid was an awful lot of money in '63. Yes it was. I think it took all my savings, plus a bit that my parents lent me. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/10 "2004-10-28T14:53:29Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I’m up too early today. My first reaction to the thread title was “See a doctor and get rid of it.” Lotta sickos here. My first thought was, “Well, as long as they’re both consenting adults, what they do in the privacy of their own home is _their_ business.” ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/11 "2004-10-28T15:00:48Z")
Woe betide anyone who uses a weird word when playing Scrabble with **dangermom**. She’s now armed and dangerous. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/12 "2004-10-28T15:11:14Z")
There’s something wonderful about holding the thing and turning the pages. So much culture and scholarship in one thing. I love the OED, and I’ll never forget the look on my Dad’s face when gave himn the compact version when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/13 "2004-10-28T15:37:15Z")
Yep, it’s pretty great. This one is the one-volume edition; it’s taller than the old compact 1st edition and has nine pages to the page, where I think the old one had six. (I haven’t seen the two-volume new edition, if there is one, so I don’t know what it looks like.) Yay… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/14 "2004-10-28T16:23:20Z")
Best dictionary gift ever: I begged for and received the first edition Canadian Oxford when it came out in 1998. I was SO happy. Still have it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/15 "2004-10-28T18:40:12Z")
Lucky **Dangermom**! Very nice **DangerDad** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/16 "2004-10-28T19:37:06Z")
Not an Orgasmic Electrical Device?..Bummer… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/17 "2004-10-28T20:19:37Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’ve always wanted a subscription to the Oxford online but it’s £195. I’m not game to convert that to Aussie dollars. AUS$478. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/18 "2004-10-28T20:34:09Z")
I saw one of the 2-volume editions in a thrift shop a couple years ago for $25, and in mighty fine condition (the box was a little warped and the magnifying glass missing, but the books were in pristine condition). I was so fearful of someone else getting it that I insisted that the cashier put it behind the counter for the 3 minutes it would take me to go to the ATM and back. (Because I know some of those old ladies buying used romance novels were gonna swoop on it as soon as I turned away.) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/19 "2004-10-29T01:52:54Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > AUS$478. :eek: Looks like I’ll have to stick with my two-volume Shorter Oxford for the foreseeable future. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623/20 "2004-10-29T02:12:28Z")
Wow. I would have thought that it rated on the \*thoughtfulness scale \* along the lines of a vacuum cleaner or a rice-cooker. So you didn’t fling it at him and knock him out? 😃 Man, female Dopers are weirder than I thought. Well, enjoy your present. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-husband-gave-me-an-oed-for-my-birthday/271623.md?page=2)