Selecting a british dictionary for OSX
One of the nice things about OSX is the inclusion of a dictionary; every cocoa application has automatic spell-checking and pressing cmd + ctrl + D gives an immediate dictionary definition for that currently selected word. You'll never need to do a Google search again to find the definition or spelling for an unknown word.
The only annoyance is that, by default, by default, you get the American English dictionary. As much as I like America, I've never been able to accept their idiosyncrasies when it comes to spelling. I can't quite bring myself to -ize 1 and I still spell colour with a u2.
If you want to switch the dictionary to British English, hit CMD + shift + colon. Voila, you can -ise to your heart's content.
As an aside, does anyone know how to capture a screenshot of the dictionary definition popup? The usual Apple grab commands don't do the job which is why I had to settle for a picture of the dashboard widget.
- Before people start commenting, please be aware that I'm aware of both the history behind the differences. However, just as I prefer Coke to Pepsi, I prefer -ise to -ize [back]
- As an aside, I've never accidentally used the british spelling of colour in CSS; it's interesting how we can train ourselves to switch context'. [back]
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How about Command-Shift-4, space, and click?
I can’t seem to get this to work. At what point do I hold down command+shift+colon?
I stumbled across this page looking for a English Dictionary widget… I too am fed up with AmericaniZations. No offence - I just work in England.
Do it when the dictionary popup appears; alternatively, you can click open the dictionary app (or click “More..” on the popup) and change it via the preferences menu.
I can’t get that CMD-shift-colon to work. I’ve changed the dictionary preferences to British English but the problem is it still references from the American dictionary.
Plus it doesn’t seem like there is a way of changing the widget, for instance using the Thesaurus it doesn’t find “analyse” but it does find “analyze”
You guys were talking about two different things.
⌘: brings up the Spelling panel, which accesses the spelling dictionaries, which are distinct from the full dictionary and thesaurus which Apple licensed from Oxford University Press and released in Tiger.
More info @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_(software)
You can see which reference materials Apple has paid for thus far in Dictionary.app’s prefs. Hitting a key combo isn’t going to magically give you the OED on your hard drive, I’m afraid to say.
All you need to do, though, for your spelling to be checked as British is the ⌘: bit. You might also want to open up the International Preferences panel and make sure British English is at the top ahead of English and U.S. English.
I came in here wondering if Brits noticed that the stress marks are (still) reversed in the British (and US) IPA pronuncations. The US IPA pronunciations also use “ø” where you would expect /æ/ or perhaps /a/.
Hiya,
Just came across this site and sorry for being EXCEPTIONALLY late in posting this but you CAN take a picture of the dictionary popup (Apple-Shift-D) if you invoke the Apple-Shift-4 BEFORE you pop up the dictionary.
If you press Apple-Shift-4 and make sure that you have the snapshot cursor and then go to the word that you want the dictionary popup for and then press Apple-Shift-D you should then be able to take a snapshot of it!!
Hope that helps someone somewhere!
Best wishes
Mark
P.S. I came across this old post as I was looking for the same dictionary preferences too!