ODE、OED,到底有啥区别?

historicity*

ODE是普通词典,和绝大部分词典一样,主要记录当前的用法,偶尔收录一些不是太老的用法。而OED是历史词典,记录的是英文单词几百年来的用法的变化,里面会标注很多年份,例句用的都是书籍报刊中的句子。
ODE主要是给母语普通人用的,OED主要是给专业人士,如语言学家等用的。

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OED若从规范主义或者描写主义来看,还真不好定义,如果说它侧重prescriptive(SOED:Laying down rules of usage),但它只记录,并未试图建立单词的’correct’ usages;如果说它侧重descriptive(AHD:with emphasis on constructing a grammar without regard to historical development),却也不然。

I vote for the first explanation. OED describes how a word has been used throughout the history without emphasizing the current common usage.
A byproduct of this approach is that OED is more inclined towards literature and figurative sense, whereas ODE focuses on the literal and current usage.
I recommend OED to study literature, but not for English exams preparation.

Chambers Dictionary - descriptive linguistics: The study of the description of a language structure as it occurred individually at a particular time, ie with no reference to its history, any other language, etc

You can read Chinese, right? Wonderful!

Nope, Google Translate is everywhere nowadays. LOL

Have you read the definition of the term ‘descriptive linguistics’?

Gotcha, I must say I am not a linguist, but I would like to say OED is more semantically inclined. It goes beyond denotation and towards connotation.