Customer Reviews

20,000+ Words: Spelled and Divided for Quick Reference

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Great book for those of us who have a problem spelling, words are very easy to look up.

There are two books on my desk I consistently keep within arms reach:
- 20,000 Words (5th edition, 1965 by Leslie - McGraw-Hill)
- Strunk and White, The Elements of Style (3rd edition, 1979 - Macmillan)

What I like about 20,000 words is the ability to quickly find words that I have no clue how to spell. Even with the best integrated spell checking technology today, if you don't know how to start spelling a word, technology will not help you. Quickly flip open the 20,000 Words book, however, and the quick division of words into syllables (syl*la*ble) has you scanning quickly within sections of the book.

Likely fixed in this edition, the only word I routinely not included in the 1965 edition was penicillin. It's a shame I'm allergic to it ... penicillin, not this reference book.

Never meant as a replacement for the dictionary, it's refreshing to find something so compact and useful that doesn't take up my entire desk.