Re: [tlug] Dictionary problem

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Darren Cook writes:

 > With a dictionary lookup, on just the keyword of interest, you get
 > back all meanings, with a gloss to describe the subtle differences,
 > and the translator's superior understanding of the context can
 > choose which one is correct.

Assuming you've got a decent dictionary, which actually has a more
accurate definition of the word in question than the translator can
guess from context.  *All* of the Japanese<->English dictionaries I've
used fail on this (including some that my expense account paid more
than 20000 yen for), and given the habitual copying from one to
another, even the whole set of them often fails.  Some are pretty good
(the 20000 yen wa-ei is, the 25000 yen ei-wa is only fair), but you
can't just walk into a bookstore and grab pretty much any famous name
off the shelf.  In fact the most accurate eiwa I have is Kenkyusha's
Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary (2000 yen), and it has
consistently held that position since 1990.  Of course it doesn't
contain all the words in the OED, but those it does contain generally
have more accurate and more varied (though very terse) definitions
supplied than some much more expensive dictionaries do.

I'm sure Thomas has run into this, and not only in eiwa-waei.  That's
why he's asking AIUI.