Dictionaries: Assignment
1. Oxford English Dictionary
a. How many part-time hippies were there in Britain in 1969 according to the September
26th edition of the Daily Mail?
b. What was a female librarian called in the 1800s?
2. ERIC Thesaurus
a. List a broader term for “information skills.”
b. List a narrower term for “information skills.”
c. List a related term for “information skills”
3. The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations
Locate and copy the whole quote by Jack Kerouac from On the Road on “madness.”
4. The Children’s Literature Dictionary
a. What is the definition of a “noodlehead story?” List the page number where you found
this information.
b. Eric Carle’s The Grouchy Ladybug was “Briticised” into what title for British readers?
5. Oxford Dictionary of Nicknames
a. “Grandma Moses” is a nickname for who and why did she receive that name?
b. Who is known by the nickname “Slick Willy?” Who is thought to have coined this
nickname?
6. Pseudonyms and Nicknames Dictionary
Who was known as “the Portly Master of the Involuntary Scream?”
7. How Not to Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms
(a) For what word is “roof rabbit” a euphemism?
(b) Write a sentence using the euphemism “banana skin.”
8. Ologies and isms: a Dictionary of Word Beginnings and Endings
(a) Provide the meaning for a prefix and a suffix (your choice). Copy the page where you
found this information.
9. Straight from the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang
You have been asked to write a poem using beat-generation hipster slang. Using this
dictionary, make up the first two sentences of a hipster novel (pretend you are the
novelist).
10. The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary: a Cyclopedic Reference to More than 7,000
Words, Names, Phrases, and Slang Expressions that Define the Game, its Heritage,
Culture, and Variations
In baseball slang, what are “the tools of ignorance” and what is the meaning behind this
slang?
11. Characters in Children’s Literature
a. Who was Winnie-the-Pooh named after in Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne in 1926?
b. List a word to describe the personalities of Pooh’s buddies (provide page number
where you found this information);
Piglet:
Eeyore:
Owl:
Tigger:
Kanga:
Roo:
12. The Thinker’s Thesaurus: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words
Find sophisticated alternatives to the following words:
Maternal
Middle Ground
Significance
Library
13. The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English
On a recent trip to the smoky mountains you encountered the following terms. What do
they mean?
Frogsticker:
Old Dragon:
Goose drowner:
Lord God Almighty:
14. Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
Using this dictionary, sketch an image of a hi-hat cymbal on a drum set.
15. Acronym Finder
For what is the following term an acronym? Adcomsubordcomphibspac
16. Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Abbreviations
You are in Ireland and you hear the phrase “A cushla agus asthore machree.” What does
it mean?
17. Harvard Dictionary of Music
What is a leitmofif? Copy the page where you found this information.
19. Dictionary for Library and Information Science
a. According to this book, when were dictionaries of the English language first compiled?
b. When and who created the Oxford English Dictionary?
c. List at least 18 categories of reference books and the page where you found this
information.
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________
20. All the Words On Stage: a Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the Plays of
William Shakespeare
Be prepared to pronounce the following insult in a Shakespearean accent:
Forsooth! Thou gorbellied pumpion!