ODO Premium VS Lexico

[Philip A]

Countdown currently uses two versions of Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) for adjudication in the letters rounds on Countdown:

> the Premium version, which can only be accessed via an annual subscription fee and is the one Susie Dent uses;

> the free version, which since June 2019 has been branded as 'Lexico' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexico.

ODO is distinct from the OED (Oxford English Dictionaries) https://www.oed.com/ which is not used for adjudication; it is also distinct from the ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English), which is still part of the programme’s goody bag to this day.

The main difference between the two versions is that the show’s lexicographer uses Premium and has more words and is more reliable than Lexico; whereas Lexico is cross-referened behind the scenes after a contestant’s word is ruled invalid, though Lexico containts slightly fewer words and is a bit less reliable.

So why is Premium more voluminous than Lexico?

Words are only searched under the British English section in Premium, and UK Dictionary in Lexico; both have US sections.

However, there are some words in Premium that read, “Entry from US English Dictionary” underneath the phonetic spelling even though these are found under the British English section; there are thousands of these, but none of them can be found in Lexico. A few examples are COQUI, GEMELLI and PUBCASTER – so if you discover such words on Apterous, and don’t find them in Lexico UK Dictionary, then they’ve probably slipped through in Premium British English.

Premium also labels more words ending with -ING “as noun” than Lexico does. e.g. in Premium it states that WALLPAPERING has an “as noun” context (therefore WALLPAPERINGS is valid), but Lexico does not. Premium also has more “count noun” labels than Lexico. e.g. EARACHE has a “count noun” sense in Premium (therefore EARACHES is allowed) but Lexico does not.

Lexico even has a handful of words erroneously un-capitalised. e.g. the third entry of the abbreviation MC as a verb has capitalised sub-entries MCing and MCed in Premium, but in Lexico these are somewhat inadequately typed as mcing and mced, therefore these are not valid.

This is not a comprehensive list – I think Premium has a slightly better search algorithm then Lexico too – but the main difference is that Premium is a more voluminous and reliable version of ODO than Lexico.

[Marc Meakin]

Countdown currently uses two versions of Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) for adjudication in the letters rounds on Countdown:

> the Premium version, which can only be accessed via an annual subscription fee and is the one Susie Dent uses;

> the free version, which since June 2019 has been branded as 'Lexico' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexico.

ODO is distinct from the OED (Oxford English Dictionaries) https://www.oed.com/ which is not used for adjudication; it is also distinct from the ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English), which is still part of the programme’s goody bag to this day.

The main difference between the two versions is that the show’s lexicographer uses Premium and has more words and is more reliable than Lexico; whereas Lexico is cross-referened behind the scenes after a contestant’s word is ruled invalid, though Lexico containts slightly fewer words and is a bit less reliable.

So why is Premium more voluminous than Lexico?

Words are only searched under the British English section in Premium, and UK Dictionary in Lexico; both have US sections.

However, there are some words in Premium that read, “Entry from US English Dictionary” underneath the phonetic spelling even though these are found under the British English section; there are thousands of these, but none of them can be found in Lexico. A few examples are COQUI, GEMELLI and PUBCASTER – so if you discover such words on Apterous, and don’t find them in Lexico UK Dictionary, then they’ve probably slipped through in Premium British English.

Premium also labels more words ending with -ING “as noun” than Lexico does. e.g. in Premium it states that WALLPAPERING has an “as noun” context (therefore WALLPAPERINGS is valid), but Lexico does not. Premium also has more “count noun” labels than Lexico. e.g. EARACHE has a “count noun” sense in Premium (therefore EARACHES is allowed) but Lexico does not.

Lexico even has a handful of words erroneously un-capitalised. e.g. the third entry of the abbreviation MC as a verb has capitalised sub-entries MCing and MCed in Premium, but in Lexico these are somewhat inadequately typed as mcing and mced, therefore these are not valid.

This is not a comprehensive list – I think Premium has a slightly better search algorithm then Lexico too – but the main difference is that Premium is a more voluminous and reliable version of ODO than Lexico.

Do you think they dictionary will be expurgating slur words too

[Fiona T]

Countdown currently uses two versions of Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) for adjudication in the letters rounds on Countdown:

> the Premium version, which can only be accessed via an annual subscription fee and is the one Susie Dent uses;

> the free version, which since June 2019 has been branded as 'Lexico' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexico.

ODO is distinct from the OED (Oxford English Dictionaries) https://www.oed.com/ which is not used for adjudication; it is also distinct from the ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English), which is still part of the programme’s goody bag to this day.

The main difference between the two versions is that the show’s lexicographer uses Premium and has more words and is more reliable than Lexico; whereas Lexico is cross-referened behind the scenes after a contestant’s word is ruled invalid, though Lexico containts slightly fewer words and is a bit less reliable.

So why is Premium more voluminous than Lexico?

Words are only searched under the British English section in Premium, and UK Dictionary in Lexico; both have US sections.

However, there are some words in Premium that read, “Entry from US English Dictionary” underneath the phonetic spelling even though these are found under the British English section; there are thousands of these, but none of them can be found in Lexico. A few examples are COQUI, GEMELLI and PUBCASTER – so if you discover such words on Apterous, and don’t find them in Lexico UK Dictionary, then they’ve probably slipped through in Premium British English.

Premium also labels more words ending with -ING “as noun” than Lexico does. e.g. in Premium it states that WALLPAPERING has an “as noun” context (therefore WALLPAPERINGS is valid), but Lexico does not. Premium also has more “count noun” labels than Lexico. e.g. EARACHE has a “count noun” sense in Premium (therefore EARACHES is allowed) but Lexico does not.

Lexico even has a handful of words erroneously un-capitalised. e.g. the third entry of the abbreviation MC as a verb has capitalised sub-entries MCing and MCed in Premium, but in Lexico these are somewhat inadequately typed as mcing and mced, therefore these are not valid.

This is not a comprehensive list – I think Premium has a slightly better search algorithm then Lexico too – but the main difference is that Premium is a more voluminous and reliable version of ODO than Lexico.

Do you think they dictionary will be expurgating slur words too

No, it's a dynamic dictionary, not a static word list.

[Philip A]

Countdown currently uses two versions of Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) for adjudication in the letters rounds on Countdown:

> the Premium version, which can only be accessed via an annual subscription fee and is the one Susie Dent uses;

> the free version, which since June 2019 has been branded as 'Lexico' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexico.

ODO is distinct from the OED (Oxford English Dictionaries) https://www.oed.com/ which is not used for adjudication; it is also distinct from the ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English), which is still part of the programme’s goody bag to this day.

The main difference between the two versions is that the show’s lexicographer uses Premium and has more words and is more reliable than Lexico; whereas Lexico is cross-referened behind the scenes after a contestant’s word is ruled invalid, though Lexico containts slightly fewer words and is a bit less reliable.

So why is Premium more voluminous than Lexico?

Words are only searched under the British English section in Premium, and UK Dictionary in Lexico; both have US sections.

However, there are some words in Premium that read, “Entry from US English Dictionary” underneath the phonetic spelling even though these are found under the British English section; there are thousands of these, but none of them can be found in Lexico. A few examples are COQUI, GEMELLI and PUBCASTER – so if you discover such words on Apterous, and don’t find them in Lexico UK Dictionary, then they’ve probably slipped through in Premium British English.

Premium also labels more words ending with -ING “as noun” than Lexico does. e.g. in Premium it states that WALLPAPERING has an “as noun” context (therefore WALLPAPERINGS is valid), but Lexico does not. Premium also has more “count noun” labels than Lexico. e.g. EARACHE has a “count noun” sense in Premium (therefore EARACHES is allowed) but Lexico does not.

Lexico even has a handful of words erroneously un-capitalised. e.g. the third entry of the abbreviation MC as a verb has capitalised sub-entries MCing and MCed in Premium, but in Lexico these are somewhat inadequately typed as mcing and mced, therefore these are not valid.

This is not a comprehensive list – I think Premium has a slightly better search algorithm then Lexico too – but the main difference is that Premium is a more voluminous and reliable version of ODO than Lexico.

Do you think they dictionary will be expurgating slur words too

Only time will tell.