I've been here ten years.

[Luxi]

This is a 1989 luxury edition  My 新华字典 is  equally big, black, older and more battered.

[imron]

That's actually not the red brick I was talking about.  I was referring to the oxford c-e e-c dictionary. 

 

Mine's in storage at the moment so can't take a photo, but I'm sure Chris will deliver. 

[Flickserve]

9 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

my red brick dictionary for Pleco on my smartphone

 

6 hours ago, Chris Two Times said:

The red brick! I still use mine!

 

5 hours ago, imron said:

 

I still have mine (very well worn)

 

 

Is this red brick the experts' hidden secret to successful Chinese learning?? Imron, all you have to do is design a version that can be uploaded into people's brains that can be accessed in a blink of an eye. Humble flickserve would like the first free version and a meagre percentage of the profits (for giving you the idea). 

[Luxi]

It'd be interesting if we each had a different 'red brick'  

 

My Oxford dictionary is a large red and blue paperback, 1985, 2nd edition, with annoyingly curly covers. It only has E-C. C-E came in a different volume that I never bought. I have a Chinese, 1978 vintage, green brick for C-E, full of quirky Cultural Revolution example sentences - it's my most battered and best loved dictionary.

[Luxi]

It'd be interesting if we each had a different 'red brick'  

 

My Oxford dictionary is a large red and blue paperback, 1985, 2nd edition, with annoyingly curly covers. It only has E-C. C-E came in a different volume that I never bought. I have a Chinese, 1978 vintage, green brick for C-E, full of quirky Cultural Revolution example sentences - it's my most battered and best loved dictionary.

 

13 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

version that can be uploaded into people's brains

 

You can use these red bricks as traditional Chinese pillows, and the content will slowly but surely seep into your brain. Beat that Pleco!

 

[Xiao Kui]

1 hour ago, Luxi said:

It'd be interesting if we each had a different 'red brick'  

 

I'm actually thinking of a "pocket" size dictionary that was actually covered in bright red vinyl (maybe the Oxford one imron referred to, i no longer have mine) It was about the size of an actual brick. It was small but very thick. It was by no means comprehensive, but it was portable. My favorite dictionary that I still have is a reverse Chinese- English one which allowed you to look up words by the second character.  It's in storage in the US or I would post a photo - an obsolete gem!

 

 

[Publius]

Flickserve: (Blink, blink, blink) I know Kung Fu.

Imron: Show me.

[lips]

4 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

a "pocket" size dictionary that was actually covered in bright red vinyl

In the late 60s I had a pocket size book of Chinese phrases covered in bright red vinyl……

[imron]

@Xiao Kui That's the one!

[stapler]

God I feel sorry for you guys having to use those

[lips]

3 hours ago, lips said:

In the late 60s I had a pocket size book of Chinese phrases covered in bright red vinyl……

Edit

……Chinese quotations……

[somethingfunny]

The best thing that ever happened to me while learning Chinese was that for the first year I didn't own a smart phone.  I learned how to use a Chinese dictionary and to understand a text message I had to enter characters one-by-one into an online dictionary (using correct stroke order).  Honestly, I feel bad for anyone trying to learn Chinese with a smartphone that can automatically paste text from a message into a dictionary, or even translate it in-app.

[Chris Two Times]

Here ya go!

 

I feel like it is not "the real deal" though as it is the 4th ed. (2011) which is the most recent. Nonetheless, I have owned copies of the 2nd (1999) and 3rd (2004) editions and the smaller versions and not this 大字本. My eyes can't handle "the real red brick" anymore which is a bit smaller than this 大字本.

 

I joined the Peace Corps in June 2000 and part of our "welcome kit" was a copy of that 2nd edition (1999) red brick. It was love at first sight! I wish I still had that one.

 

I always thought of Martin H. Manser as a kind of god, a real guru. Martin the MANser I would call him.  

[Chris Two Times]

I have always loved it that Oxford/Commercial Press has produced several bricks for different languages. Let's see if I can do this...

 

a green brick for German-Chinese/Chinese-German? (have owned)

a tan brick for Japanese-Chinese/Chinese-Japanese? (have owned)

a blue brick for French-Chinese/Chinese-French?

 

This eludes my memory. I think that's right. There is also a Russian brick (purple?).

[Chris Two Times]

"I've been here ten years" --> a thorough discussion of the red brick...

 

sorry

 

[querido]

Oh, don't say sorry. It's all interesting! :-)

[Luxi]

Mine wasn't so red ...

 

but then, it was only the 1st or 2nd edition of the bilingual version. 

 

 

I still think the 现代汉语词典 , when it's red and not green like Publius', is the MOAB (Mother Of All Bricks)

[Chris Two Times]

Excellent, Luxi! There is it! 

 

I SEE IT! I SEE THE AURA AROUND THAT ORIGINAL (1986) RED BRICK!

 

[imron]

7 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Honestly, I feel bad for anyone trying to learn Chinese with a smartphone that can automatically paste text from a message into a dictionary, or even translate it in-app

Yep. I'm not sorry in the slightest that I had to learn the paper dictionary way, and think I got the better end of the deal. 

[abcdefg]

I had two small red CE/EC dictionaries from Oxford Press. The one Luxi showed just above, and it's smaller brother, that really could be stuffed in a pocket.

 

I clearly remember that using these, especially the smaller one, is what prompted me to learn the word 放大镜 -- magnifying glass.

 

And early on, a Chinese friend gave me an even smaller book, this one blue, titled: "A little English-Chinese Dictionary." Vinyl cover, like the others. Published in Shanghai, 1982. Tiny type size, even though they did use a readable font style. 

 

  

 

Shown here beside my mobile phone and the magnifying glass just for size.