Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (Oxford Quick Reference)

This book "The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases" is a compendium of the words and small expressions that are foreign in origin but are used in all kinds of writings, essays, histories, studies, and literature. It does not cover foriegn 'Idioms'-these are expressions used in other countries, but is an invaluable resource for terms that are incorporated into the English language and are inseperable from our grammatical, scientific, literary, and historical and sociologic vocabulary. Some examples include: adj. & adv. phrases such as 'a priori', nouns integrated into different sectors such as 'douceur' pron./dusoer/, nouns associated with clothing and cuisine such as Italian 'osso bucco' pron./ aw'so bu:ko/, and generally words attached to literary and intellectual lingos seen in society. There are a handfull of these kinds of guides, but 'The Oxford Dictionary' is a reliable source.

Essential for reading classics like Sir Walter Scott , or Alexandre Dumas, this book never leaves my desk where I read daily. The type is clear and the paper is first rate. I appreciate the larger size too. This is the book to buy for complete understanding of foreign words and phrases in literature. I love it, thank you.

While not as comprehensive as I would have hoped, this dictionary of the more commonly used foreign words and phrases in English writing and conversation today is helpful on many counts. With the Oxford Press imprimatur, one can be certain the scholarship is sound and authoritative and the book is well organized, of a handy size and easy to use. Unlike many paperback references, it is printed on good paper, the type is crisp and clear and of a good size (no squinting required!). Physically the book is reader friendly and "built" to hold up under frequent/frantic flipping and searching(i.e., under the pressure of "deadline rush"). Overall, a worthy purchase and a nice addition to any hardworking wordsmith's reference shelf.

This is a helpful book & probably the best of the lot. My 3 star rating is because I felt there were far, far too many references to dance, opera, & classical music. I would assume that aficionados in these would already know these terms. And some definitions were incomplete. For example, panga, in Mexico, is a small open boat with an outboard motor and paseo also means a pass or a road. But my biggest gripe is the pronunciation guide, which is a series of symbols that may be meaningful for a linguist, but just requires a constant, pain-in-the-butt referral to the front of the book to find out what they mean. Can't the "sh" sound just be "sh" instead of some funny icon. Other dictionaries have few of these strange icons.

I speak and write only English, but sometimes find foreign words and phrases useful in writing, as a way to emphasize a point. To do this one has to be mindful of making sure what the foreign phrase really means. The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases is a very useful reference.

Bought this book to aid me in reading “Lolita”. Didn’t find too many of the French words I was looking for.

the book was purchased to be a reference source; and,it was found to be well suited for that purposeIAs a result, it is to be recommended for all practical users.

Persian & Arabic and a few other languages are all dumped under the category "Islam"! Islam is not even a language and these languages are not even in the same language families. I wish sufficient care had been given to all languages equally instead of this type of anachronistic lazy Orientalist attitudes.

When we 'borrow' foreign words and phrases they stay and some get used more than others. This covers a lexicon of lesser used as well as the prevalent. Good to Brilliant. Happy with this.

This is a "must have" for anyone interested in languages. Very interesting indeed and contains information on all the words and phrases I have so far looked up. Well recommended. Will order copies for friends.

The Dictionary is precisely what is expected of it and more. It provides the meaning of foreign words which are used in English language as also its origin and exemplifies with some actual usage in literary fields. What more you can expect?!

Excellent, especially when it identifies words that come from other languages but are somehow scrambled in English, either in form or meaning. Usual Oxford thoroughness.