Do You Own a Dictionary?

I haven't owned a physical dictionary in years, but I get the World Almanac every year, and read it cover to cover, sometimes 2-3 times (except for the sports stats of course. I'm more of a middle-aged nerd than a teenager ;)

An online dictionary is (IMHO) something else, different from a "real", paper one.

I use maybe 95% of the times an online one (as I need it while reading online), as it is fast, handy and what not, but flipping the pages, interrupting/delaying the search because while flipping you spotted an unusual word that you want to look at, seeing which words are right before and right after the one you were looking for, to me remains a pleasure.

I would also say that the online/digital one while definitely faster and more efficient if you want to look at a given word is somehow less "persistent", I mean (not being a native English speaker) that for some reasons when I learn a new word and look for it online I tend to forget it sooner then when I am reading a (paper) book, find a new word and look it on the (paper) dictionary, maybe it is just me or it is the increased time needed to get up, get the dictionary, look for the word, but I tend to better retain it.

Yup. Webster's Third New International unabridged. It's big, heavy, and awkward to use, but it's immensely satisfying to look something up in it. I only use it a few times a year, but I'm glad I have it.

Digital is dandy, but analog rocks.

> am I missing something by not having a physical dictionary to flip through?

For general use, not really. I have 7-8 different dictionaries bought over the decades, some of them bilingual. But they are rarely used because digital is far easier.

Yes. Both paper and digital. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Some are English-only, some are English- translation dictionaries.

'Paper' dictionaries are great but are heavy and unwieldy to use if they're comprehensive enough, especially for the translation dictionaries.

I also have an 'idiom dictionary' for English slang words and other idioms.

I have four, two of which are in easy reach. I mostly use on-line dictionaries for quick look-ups, but I use the physical ones perhaps two or three times a month.

I used to have an "Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus". I switched to online dictionaries when the pandemic started.

Yes I own a dictionary because in my school we were asked to refer them. But right now I always ask Siri or google.

No. I use merriam-webster.com (!mw on duckduckgo) and I'm content.