World Dictionary of Foreign Exp - HB »

The World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions is an excellent resource for those who encounter the foreign words and phrases that permeate spoken and written English and seek a fuller understanding of them. It contains abbreviations, single words, and phrases from a wealth of languages including: Afrikaans, Arabic, Aramaic, Chinese, Dutch, French, Greek, German, Italian, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Inuit, Japanese, Latin, Persian, Portuguese, Provencal, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Turkish, and Yiddish.

Library Journal

Stone follows up his Latin for the Illiterati (LJ 12/96) with this new dictionary, structured around the subtitle's three areas: medicine, law, and religion. Translations are brief and literal. The dictionary concludes with some of the same information given in Latin for the Illiterati as well as newer miscellaneous information, including Latin selections (with English translations) from the Roman Catholic liturgy. The dictionary ends with an English-Latin index. The major drawback is the arrangement by topic--the three different topic areas must be checked if the user doesn't know whether the word or phrase is medical, legal, or religious (there is no Latin index). On the positive side, this dictionary contains many terms not found in other recent Latin-English dictionaries, such as James Morwood's A Dictionary of Latin Words and Phrases (Oxford Univ., 1998). Adeleye's World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions provides translations from over 20 languages, making it an excellent resource for general users. Each definition indicates part of speech, language of origin, plural forms, and literal translation (including the literal translation of each word in a phrase). Also included are lengthier, connotative definitions, examples of use in sentences, and, when appropriate, cross references to other terms. Adeleye's dictionary is recommended for all public and academic libraries; Stone's is for libraries needing a more specialized resource.--Cynthia A. Johnson, Barnard Coll. Lib., New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.