Select a Dictionary That’s Right for You 
[00:00:05] [MUSIC PLAYING] 
[00:00:14] [MUSIC CHANGES] 
[00:00:23] [QUESTION MAN] Excuse me, can I ask you a question?
[00:00:25] [FIRST MAN] What’d he say? 
[00:00:26] [SECOND MAN] He wants to ask you a question
[00:00:27] [FIRST MAN] Well, it’s a free country.
[00:00:28] [QUESTION MAN] I need to get a dictionary, and I figure you guys are the ones to ask. I mean, you’ve got like 20 of them laying here. How do I know which one’s right for me?
[00:00:36] [SECOND MAN] I got PHLEGM. For fourteen.
[00:00:40] [FIRST MAN] [DISPLEASED SOUND] First of all, there’s size. Is this a dictionary to carry around?
[00:00:44] [QUESTION MAN] yeah, I want to take it with me.
[00:00:46] [SECOND MAN] Hmm. Ok then. Well that rules out the big ones. But a small one might not have all the words you need. There. HERNIA. For 20.
[00:00:57] [FIRST MAN] You know, you were a doofus 50 years ago, and you’re still a doofus. Size. [SHORT LAUGH] Here’s what’s really important. Look inside the dictionary and see if you like the way they write the definitions. 
[00:01:14] [SECOND MAN] That’s a good point. Here, try this one.
[00:01:17] [QUESTION MAN] Okay.
[00:01:18] [SECOND MAN] Look up the word name.
[00:01:21] [QUESTION MAN] Name . . . Name . . . Name. . . Okay. It says, “A word or words by which an entity is called or designated.”
[00:01:33] [FIRST MAN] [LAUGH] You see, “entity,” designated. Making something simple really complicated. Here, look at this one. “Name. A word by which a person is regularly known”. See isn’t that much clearer? SPECIMEN for 23.
[00:01:51] [QUESTION MAN] So you’re saying I should look up a few words and see if it’s right for me.
[00:01:54] [SECOND MAN] This guy’s okay. 
[00:01:57] [FIRST MAN] What you got?
[00:01:58] [SECOND MAN] WHEEZE for 35. 
[00:02:01] [FIRST MAN] You know, there’s another point. A lot of words have more than one definition. Now, take the word irregular. 
[00:02:08] [SECOND MAN] Don’t get me started.
[00:02:10] [FIRST MAN] Some dictionaries use the most common meaning first, and others use the oldest meaning first, even though they haven’t been used in a hundred years.
[00:02:21] [QUESTION MAN] And that’s better?
[00:02:22] [SECOND MAN] Oh, better, shcmetter. It’s just different. You should pick the dictionary that makes sense to you.
[00:02:27] [FIRST MAN] You know, that’s not all. Some dictionaries have grammar sections where they explain parts of speech, and some have usage sections where they explain commonly misused words.
[00:02:39] [SECOND MAN] You gonna keep me sitting here all day? Huh?
[00:02:42] [FIRST MAN] HYP. H-Y-P.
[00:02:45] [SECOND MAN] What is this? Some new HMO?
[00:02:47] [FIRST MAN] Hyp as in hypochondriac.
[00:02:51] [SECOND MAN] You see what I’m faced with? Cheater, cheater! I’ve told you 100 times, hypochondria isn’t a real disease.
[00:02:59] [FIRST MAN] You like that one? Take it.
[00:03:02] [QUESTION MAN] Really?
[00:03:03] [FIRST MAN] Uh huh.
[00:03:04] [SECOND MAN] [SHORT LAUGH] At his age, he’ll never know the difference. 
[00:03:07] [QUESTION MAN] Well, uh, thanks a lot. Hey, uh, may I? GOITER. 24. 
[00:03:18] [FIRST MAN] Yeah. I know that word too well. [LAUGH]
[00:03:21] [QUESTION MAN] You got a goiter?
[00:03:23] [FIRST MAN] I used go with a goiter.
 [00:03:26] [SECOND MAN] Here’s a little teeny one that says thank you very much.