Which three dictionaries would you bring to a remote, desert island?

1. Oxford English Dictionary - all 20 volumes of the OED2 in order to build a seat of erudition.

2. Wörterbuch für Recht, Wirtschaft und Politik by Dietl / Lorenz - in case any German lawyers, economists or politicians were to be washed ashore

3. The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce - a reminder not to be too impatient to return to civilisation.

N.B. I'll be lost without www.urbandictionary.com if any cool teens float in on the tide.

I have had a love affair with dictionaries since I was a kid. Although it would break my heart to part with any of the dozens I have amassed over the years, if my ship was sinking and I had to choose which three to keep, it would have to be these:

1. My high school boyfriend won my heart when he gave me the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language for my 16th birthday (complete with etymological dictionary and an appendix of Indo-European roots). I still have it on my shelf - I don't think my husband realizes the sentimental value it holds ;).

2. My dearest memento of my French-Canadian grandmother is her 1957 Larousse Classique, which I have carried with me for over 25 years and across several intercontinental moves.

3. the Diccionario Visual, a technical picture dictionary in five languages, is the only paper dictionary in my collection which actually sees any action in these days of online terminology searches, and that's because my kids love looking at the detailed, labelled pictures of Gothic cathedrals, obscure sporting equipment and (of course) the human anatomy. I'd take it with me if only to keep the kids busy on the lifeboat.

P.S. Anyone with a passing interest in dictionaries might want to read this post by the Mad Patent Translator: Translators Are Obsessive-Compulsive Hoarders Who Will Never Part With Their Old And By Now Completely Useless Dictionaries

I would take the following three dictionaries to a desert island, in order of importance:

1. The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (abreviado a veces en sus siglas, DPD) because the Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española, Gramática de la lengua española and Ortografía de la lengua española would be too heavy to carry.

2. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

3. The Oxford Spanish Dictionary.

I have always believed that translators and interpreters have to work with monolingual dictionaries/glossaries and the bilingual dictionary must be a tool of last resort.

Although I know the audience and the related materials for Persian Interpreters may not be eye-catching in this site, for the English-Persian translators and interpreters, I recommend the following three dictionaries:

1. Oxford Advanced Dictionary
2. Hezareh English To Persian Dictionary
3. The dictionary of Economics by Manoochehr Farhang

1. Le Bon Usage --- (okay, not quite a dictionary, but... it is every
   Francophone's grammar bible).

2. Al Munjid (المنجد في اللغة العربية) - the holy grail of monolingual Arabic dictionaries.

3. Oxford English Dictionary --- 20 Volume Set... (Condensed version would be okay)

*Earlier I had mentioned for number two Le Robert Micro... I changed my mind, hehe.

1. Inny słownik języka polskiego. Not cos it's particularly technical but because it is written in a style apart. It's the only dictionary I can read like a book and enjoy!

2. Ernst, Woerterbuch der Industrie Technik. Noone does dictionaries like the Germans;)

3. (4 language picture dictionary FR EN DE PL), Wielojęzyczny Słownik Wizualny, my combination with enough crazy technical and plain weird stuff to while away those long sunny days on the beach.