The latest release of Apple's OS X, 10.4 (a.k.a. Tiger), includes a dictionary application as standard. Among its claims to fame are that it's accessible as an application or a Dashboard widget, and that it's integrated into the parental control system, so little Sandy or Chris can look up crap and find that it means "a losing throw of 2, 3, or 12 in [the game of] craps" and nothing else! Yeah, right. Meanwhile it completely fails my rough-and-ready test for being a usable dictionary: it contains neither quinquereme nor cerulescent. The latter is perhaps understandable (cerulean is certainly more common, and quite adequate), but ignoring the opening of Masefield's wonderful "Cargoes" is completely inexcusable.
Posted by geoff2 at July 5, 2005 08:55 PM