c4countdown

Probably silly questions these (so I apologise):

What is the EXACT name of the dictionary that Susie Dent uses; where can I buy it – and how much can I expect to pay for it?

Also, are there more words in the 20-odd volume dictionary set that Series champ's win, than there are in Susie's little dictionary?

The current dictionary that is used is the Official Dictionary of English (or the ODE):



If you were to buy this edition in the shops, it would cost £39.99. With it, you also get a year's subscription to the ODE website.

I'm not sure if the dictionary given away in the Grand Final contains more words than the ODE though.

Thank you for that

To be exactly exact, I believe it's the ODE3 (Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd Edition).

Cheers Johnny!

The 20-volume OED has far more words in it but they're mostly very obscure or outdated. The smaller one (ODE) only includes words they deem to be in common use.

So you could actually lose a series grand final, perhaps, after having a word disallowed, that is - in fact - included in the collection of dictionaries that the winner - ironically receives - for beating you?

Oddly enough, when I was on in 2008ish, I was given the two-volume New Oxford Dictionary of English, which didn't match the one used in the game at the time.

That is odd!

Dave Preece wrote:So you could actually lose a series grand final, perhaps, after having a word disallowed, that is - in fact - included in the collection of dictionaries that the winner - ironically receives - for beating you?

Yes, and that's also true the other way round - you could win by getting a word that's in the ODE but not the OED.

The ODE, which is the one used for adjudications on the show, gets a new edition every few years. The 20-volume OED, on the other hand, gets a new edition every few decades. The OED's aim is to list the usage history and etymology of every verifiable word that has ever been in the English language since it was recognisably the English language (about 1100 AD or so). However, its current edition, which happens to be the second edition, was published in 1989 so doesn't contain modern words in the ODE3 such as TWEETUP or GOOGLED. Despite the similar names, they're very different dictionaries with significantly differing aims.

Cheers Graeme, as ever, very helpful.