Means Spanish English Construction Dictionary [Paperback]

R S Means Company (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000 | ISBN-10: 0876295782 | ISBN-13: 978-0876295786

Illustrated dictionary of the most common construction terms & phrases. Designed to facilitate communication among Spanish- and English-speaking construction communities - improving quality and safety on the job.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flip this book one way, and you get translations from the Spanish terms; flip it the other way, and you get translations from the English. Either way, you get a dictionary of basic construction terms for use at work or at home.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: R.S. Means Company (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876295782
• ISBN-13: 978-0876295786
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Some fluff, little substance, April 10, 2005

By 

G. Ossman (Altadena CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Means Spanish English Construction Dictionary (Paperback)

Substance is minimal. The terminology is not day-to-day but technical and geared to projects with many trades and workers. Hopefully, somebody is not referring to this book to explain to a worker the technical details of a fire sprinkler system, but, there are about 15 entries for various types of fire sprinklers. Unfortunately, there is not consistent detail for all trades - the book would (should?) then be ten times as thick.
If you are seeking something to help you and one or two house construction laborers communicate, this isn't it.
There are 107 pages of straight English-Spanish word conversions, in very large type, the "S" pages averaged 15 per page, so you're getting about 1,600 words, many of which are repetitive.
Many words have two translations, but no help as to which to use.
These 107 pages are just as easily found in any on-line translation dictionary.
The 5 pages of "useful phrases" were helpful - again, geared towards a large construction site where your normal translator is on vacation and you have to fill in. BUT, ONLY 5 pages.
Tools span (span = luz, or vano, or claro, wonder which will convey my meaning) 7 pages and would have been a great place for illustrations, but no.
The illustrations are meager and not particularly helpful. The sketches on the cover are not included in the book - deceitful advertising. My first grader's illustrated spanish-english dictionary with one page devoted to a jobsite was more helpful.
Save your money. Don't spend it on this.

Just a few of the words I hoped to find, but didn't:
Deep, dirt, driveway, fill, place, pour, smooth, soak...
Very deficient in verbs.

A note to R. S. Means, who's books, guides, and standards I have used for decades - pull this book off the shelf and start over, you are damaging what used to be a good name.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Potable Water?, October 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Means Spanish English Construction Dictionary (Paperback)

Potable Water is the proper construction term and that is what it is known as industry wide. This is a construction dictionary not a slang dictionary. I am buying it!

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother sending for this one., November 23, 2001

By 

celine m. collins (wilkesboro, nc USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Means Spanish English Construction Dictionary (Paperback)

Just in looking at the sample pages I decided this book was not worth sending for. A good example is "Agua Potable".....translated to "Potable water" in English. Ask the typical American for Potable Water and 9 out of 10 people won't know what you're talking about. Ask those same people for Drinking Water and you'll get a response.
The translations are very poor, and obviously not done by a native English speaker.