Every day we offer FREE licensed software you’d have to buy otherwise.
TheSage English Dictionary and Thesaurus Professional 7.18 was available as a giveaway on September 25, 2017!
TheSage is an off-line comprehensive English dictionary and thesaurus that provides a number of useful and in some cases unusual search tools. It is best to think of TheSage as two different systems: a knowledge database and a multi-tool interface. The knowledge database consists of a tightly integrated English dictionary and thesaurus. TheSage’s index contains roughly 250,000 words and its dictionary approximately 315,000 senses, 69,000 etymologies, 55,000 examples of use, and 75,000 phonetic transcriptions. TheSage’s thesaurus contains approximately 1,850,000 relationships between words and definitions, from synonyms and antonyms to hypernyms, hyponyms, meronyms, holonyms, etc.
NB: The license provided for 6 months.
Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10; Requires .Net 4.0 or greater (already installed on most machines)
50.8 MB
$10.00
what Support the creation of ports for Android, iOS, OSX, UWP mean? How to request additional ports? Possible to give an API?
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Debjit Biswas, it means that when you pay for the program you are giving them money to further update program for those platforms.
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This is a very nice program that doesn't deserve the low rating.
It has all kinds of functions beyond basic dictionary and thesaurus.
Etymologizer is an interesting one, and instant anagram list for any word is interesting too. There is much more. It's very fast and doesn't require internet which is great for me because my internet is garbage and often down. You get Pro features and updates for six months. Then you don't get updates anymore but the Pro features remain. If this sort of thing is useful to you then this is a great day for you to get a cool word program for free. If you're not interested that's fine but why the down-voting I don't understand. There is no malware here and the program runs great and does more than it says it does. The publishers have also been very forthcoming and interactive with everyone. Thanks folks.
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So can we use this directory Commercially? if not, what the point of giving this away? I will get a free version instead.
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Just to clarify for some that have not tested but seem determined to down vote due to Sage using "American English" instead of "British/UK English":
It contains British/UK English variants of all the words/definitions I've checked (colour, muffler, theatre, bonnet, etc.). The only difference you might see on definitions is that the common British definition is listed 2nd instead of 1st.
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Catamus Mann,
I am not concerned with the style of English that is used. I am not concerned witth the six month limitation.
What does concern me is the lack of a custom installation. I want to install the program where I want it to be installed. Not in a location decided by the publisher. Not to give this option shows lazy or careless programming. Or both. For this reason and this reason alone I will pass on this offer. Would you care to address this point?
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dadams, I already address that issue myself in a much earlier post. It is my chief complaint about the program. Their website does offer a free portable version you can install/run anywhere, I am tempted to use that and just copy over the files from to the current giveaway into the "portable" folder and see if that works.
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I personally find this dictionary great for my writing. I may not be American but I have a brain and can use whichever helps me at the time and don't stunt my work by sticking with one tool. I have been using free Sage for years, along with many other dictionaries, and I find the program to be an excellent program. Thanks for the giveaway.
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George, your kind words are appreciated. Thank you.
Sophia Jones
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I installed this on my Win 10 laptop to check it out. The deal breaker came right away. There is no option for a custom install. I could not choose the install folder. Instead as others have noted the program installed to \Users\...\AppDate\Local . The user should always have the ability to choose how they use their computer.
Also the hot keys would not work. I high lighted a word and pressed the default hot keys. I expected to see a pop up window with the definition as I get with WordWeb. But nothing happened.
The contents looks good but the behavior and execution are a little lacking for me. Thank you for the offer but I uninstalled via reboot.
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What happens after six months? If it breaks or just quits like some of the other program that did that then please from now on can GAOTD please put that important info up on top. I don't want to waste my hard drive with it nor take the time to use it like I did with that icon maker that erased all the nifty icons I took the time to make. I will never again invest in a program that erases data after it's license expires...
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nomadss1, once the promotional license expires, TheSage defaults to the standard license and continues to work just the same. No data is lost.
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nomadss1, While I initially thought the six months was a rip-off, if you go to their web site you'll see that most of the program's features are also in the free version. The biggest difference is that the paid version may be used commercially, and automatically checks for updates.
For a lousy $10 that seems reasonable. I gave it an up vote. My only negative is that the program relies on an on-line help file. I downloaded the help page and saved it locally.
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Godel, thank you for your kind words and your comment regarding the help file. I will pass it along.
You might want to know that the help file is also available as a pdf file from:
http://www.sequencepublishing.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi?thesagedocs
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sofia Jones
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Nice program but the dictionary is rather small.
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Susan, The off-line portion of the dictionary can be considered "small" by some standards but most people tend to use just between 2000-4000 different words in any given day. The program does offer an built in browser to access "larger" online dictionaries and even translations between languages.
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Catamus Mann, Yes, but surely the point is -- you might need it for all those other 246,000 words that you DON'T know so well!
If you've got the first 4,000 down pat -- why would you need a dictionary for THEM?
Surely a dictionary is mainly for checking those words you "sorta know" but are not quite sure of, and you want to check before you make something of an ass of yourself....
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I thought I read somewhere that it could be installed on a key drive but that hasn't worked for me. It does look like a handy program, though, packed with a lot of info, so I'll definitely be using it along with another program I have. (I'd never be satisfied with just one! *S*).
Quick install, easy to figure out.
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Claire, TheSage is full portable. If you have any specific questions, please get in touch. I will do what I can to get you going.
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Claire, Their website offers a portable installer of the free version.
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with respect to The Sage 4.0
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Once again, another extended trial period, no thanks.
Apparently some people need to learn the meaning of the words "give away". For a dictionary, the fact that they don't understand the meaning of that, troubles me. I downloaded this, but will put it straight into the recycle bin.
When you are going to be an Indian giver, make sure that you understand that this is NOT a negative about indians.
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Anthony, I loved your comment! It gave me life! A dictionary not knowing the meaning of 'give away'! 'Indian giver'! Still laughing...
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Anthony, please consider that the development of an English dictionary and thesaurus is extremely lengthy and costly.
Sophia Jones
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Anthony, If you looked through previous posts or at the their website you would clearly see that practically all of the features are functional in their free version (you get rights to use in commercial environment, automatic updates, and a few advanced options in the "Pro").
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[ Anthony ],
Look up "indian giver" before pointing your finger at other not knowing the meaning of words.
As mentioned, the free version is the same:
[ http://www.sequencepublishing.com/1/thesage.html ]
The 'pro' version merely auto updates, and permits commercial use.
Give it a try, you might like it.
.
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Anthony, seriously, you are going to take this to task? I believe the whole intention of this site is to offer you programs to try that you will hopefully buy. Do you work for free? Do you give everything you have away for free? I would much rather get a full working version of a program to try for a limited time versus a limited version! If you GIVE someone flowers, do they last forever?
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Hugh,
I think you have to first, understand what FREE means. I did not create this site, and I appreciate what they are trying to do. I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what this site is actually doing.
They reason they use this site, is to get honest feedback from users, many with degrees in EE and other venues that are capable of giving feedback of enormous value. That is the first reason for the site.
The second reason, is for casual users to check and inspect the quality of the FREE offering, and by doing so, maybe take a look at their other offerings that we will buy. This is a "get you in the door" program, and should not be a bait and switch. If you don't see this as an extended trial period, that is your perspective, which is fine. You can download this, maybe make it something that you use and rely upon, every day. Then one afternoon, you are working and you try to use this program and it kicks you in the teeth and demands you finally pay the random or the victim will die.
My choice, just shoot the victim, i.e. the program. Like I said, once I realized what this wasn't, and that is a FREE program, I put it right where it belongs, in the recycle bin.
No, I don't work for free, and if they want my honest feedback on how to improve, or my support on other offerings, they need to pay me for that by honoring the idea of this site, which is FREE programs.
People see this site differently, and neither view is fundamentally wrong, it is just differing perspectives. I hope you can give them creative feedback, and maybe you will buy this in the end, who knows. If I want to try this, I will just go get the free trial directly from their site, but I think I will skip this one no matter what at this point.
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Anthony, good to know that my fundamental understanding of the site is WRONG but yours isn't!! And you know the primary reason and the secondary reason for the site is that way because?? How do you know that the secondary is actually the primary? In most cases, of the programs I have downloaded, there is already a newer version available. So why would they need to "get honest feedback from users, many with degrees in EE and other venues that are capable of giving feedback of enormous value " when they have already released a better version?? So you don't like the terms so you throw it in the recycle bin " where it belongs"? That sounds respectful!! Must be lonely in your world!
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Hugh,
I said that from MY PERSPECTIVE, you idea is wrong. That doesn't mean that it is wrong. You think that my idea of this site is fundamentally wrong, but you won't use those words, for what ever reason.
In the end, people can see this site any way they like, and for them, it is right and everyone else has a distorted/wrong view of it. That is life, that is EVERYTHING we do, every day.
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I would like to install this program for all users on my Windows 7 computer, but it installs to \Users\...\AppDate\Local with no option to change it to say Program Files, or make it available to all users. An option in the installer to specify a different location, or just change it to Program Files would be greatly appreciated.
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Shane, I installed it on my key drive so you should be able to install it where you want. I did it by first creating a folder on my key drive then extracting the zip file into it, then simply running the .exe.
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Shane, Actually I amend my earlier comment. It didn't actually install on my key drive but it DID install on my program files (I also have Win7). I'm assuming I missed something so I'm going to give it another go for my key drive. Still, at least mine installed where you want YOURS to! :o)
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Shane, TheSage is fully portable. If the default location is not satisfactory, unzip the setup file on any folder of your choosing.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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I have been using it for years.
Thanks, GOTD and The Sage
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Mondal, thank you for your positive comment.
Sophia Jones
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Downloads quickly, and installs perfectly. I can't see a single reason anyone would not use such a great software. Each to his own. It is a winner for me. No problems with it at all on my Windows 10 laptop.
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Judi Podgurski, Good for Americans.. Not much use to the English or Australians.
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I am NOT American.
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sad, from the documentation:
The scope of the dictionary is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English.
Some of TheSage's characteristics are:
Index ~250,000
Senses ~315,000
Etymologies ~69,000
Thesaurus ~1,850,000 relationships (synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, meronyms, holonyms,...)
Examples of use ~55,000
Pronunciations ~135,000 phonetic transcriptions
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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sad, It contains British English variants of all the words/definitions I've checked (colour, theatre, bonnet, etc.).
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Anybody know what they mean by Custom appearance? Can the UI be changed to something smaller? to a different color? to a different way of display?
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kalmly, the color of certain elements as well as the arrangement of results can be modified via the advanced options. Give it a try. The promotional license gives access to all features.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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kalmly, From what I've seen the customizations are limited to changing the fonts, sizes and color used for the different tools. Not much in the way of personalization of the UI. I put in a suggestion for a "dark" theme to help reduce eye strain since I dislike the dark text on a white background.
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Catamus Mann, you are correct regarding colors. I will pass along the request for a dark theme or, perhaps, a dark background. If I remember correctly, TheSage responds adequately to high-contrast settings.
There are additional options, however, regarding the functioning of the program and its tools, for example, limitations on results are lifted, use of external browser is made possible as is the propagation of patterns, or the use of the ESC key to send the program to the system tray.
Sophia Jones
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Can this be used on iOS device or exclusive to Windows only?
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RCory, Software on this page is windows only (Mac as well if mentioned) If platforms are not mentioned in the blurb or description it is fair to say that they can not be used or linked to android apps.
The program has no link options to android or ios so the answer to your question, in this case, is: nope, sorry
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RCory, the iOS port is in the planning stage. An Android beta port is available for testing (please visit our website). Other ports are at different stages of development.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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RCory, They don't support Mac or IOS yet, but seem to be expanding ports to other OS's. Currently their website offers a link to a "beta" android version.
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I've installed Sage several times and always end up uninstalling. I suppose it has improved over the first few I tried, but I just dislike the UI, so I don't open it.
WordWeb Pro is my go to (offline) dictionary. It's small (in size), offers several versions of English - yes, there are more than two - and auditory pronunciations. I've upgraded my license to WordWeb several times, but have decided not to do so again. SO - looking for an alternative. Sage seems to be the only thing that even comes close. If only they would offer a choice of UI.
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NB: Look up all of your words before 6 months is up.
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Jim Koup, not at all. Once the promotional license expires, TheSage defaults to the standard license and continues to work just the same.
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.
[ Jim Koup ],
Or switch to the free version if you find this useful:
[ http://www.sequencepublishing.com/1/thesage.html ]
The 'pro' version merely auto updates, and permits commercial use.
.
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Kudos to GOTD for facilitating such an original giveaway; to Sage for originating it; and to Sofia for coming here and putting up with all the banter.
As to the difference between the two variants of this excellent dictionary, the meaning of the word "Trump" is associated in the English version with a winning hand, whereas in the American version, it's quite the opposite.
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MikeR, Not so. In America Trump wins
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MikeR, you are very welcome.
Please get in touch if you have any other comments or suggestions.
Sophia Jones
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T***p won and everyone else in the whole world lost. The question is, how badly will the world suffer, and will we be able to recover
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[ Laxative ],
And the T-Rump family is the ONLY winner, everyone else has lost, and will continue to lose.
... unless you care to share what personal benefits you have received, or expect from T-Rump in office?
Me?
I'm sticking with GiveawayOfTheDay, the only sure thing in this sidetracked discussion.
.
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The Canadian translation for Trump is Dickhead
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Peter Blaise, and others who agree with him.
I disagree but will not continue here woth a discussion on Trump who at least got rid of the other rubbish
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[ Laxative ],
We review things here, their features and benefits ...
... tand in his side-track about T-Rump, apparently, you have nothing to share about experiencing any personal benefits received, or expected, from T-Rump in office.
What say we all uninstall and delete, like any other product or service who's features have no benefits?
.
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Anyone know a replacement without .Net?
I still use generous c2d system with alternative OS,
that clean win32 application will be considered to use.
Vi$ta and other bloatware software is non acceptable there.
.Net is a bloatware collection.
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crazy*monkey, .Net Framework is great. I personally use it to create applications within Visual Studio. If you want to run it on Linux, maybe try Wine?
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crazy*monkey, although no longer supported, TheSage v6.10.1816 Final release is freely available from our website.
Sophia Jones
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crazy*monkey, I use Vista so this release is perfect for me! So many giveaways anymore aren't compatible because of the age of my computer, and I just can't afford to get a new one at this time.
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Will check it out. Love languages. I don't mind it's American English. I mind that it's only American English :P
Usually, I use dictionary.com. It covers both US and UK English, has etymology and dialects. It exists offline in the phone apps, too.
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Downloaded and installed on Windows 8.1 with no snags anywhere.
It has some pretty nifty features. The Etymologer, the Thesaurus, and the Concordancer are wonderful tools.
I particularly enjoy the way the main Dictionary's search results are built up in a tree structure, so you can choose whether to see only definitions, etymology, thesaurus, examples, or any combination of them all.
I'd have liked if clearing history cleared the history of all features, but it only clears the history of the History tab. Have to clear individual history for all the other tabs. It would also have been nice if all features shared the same history, so you could cycle through everything for the same search quickly.
I don't think I'll be using it much, myself, except maybe as a fun toy now and again (anagram and wildcard), but it's a thumbs up from me. It's really great to see different kinds of software being offered.
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Breagha, your kind words are appreciated as are your comments. I will pass them along. Thank you.
Sophia Jones
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This is only a 6 month license BUT there is a free version with most of the features included.
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So, what all y'all have gainst Mercan English anyways, huh??
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Really, the Brits can be so petty; they should be flattered that the USA has taken their language and improved it. But seriously, languages are alive and they mutate over time and locale. Even in England, who says thee and thou anymore?
This program has a simple-to-use interface to an extensive database of the English language. Well worth $10 USD but even better now at $0 USD. Thanks for this gift jewel instead of yet another video decoder.
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LaoMa, cant really see how the Americans can improve the English Laungage when they still cant even pronounce or spell it correctly. ;)
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LaoMa, Who says thee and thou? In Yorkshire they say thee and tha.
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LaoMa,
So what is a boot or a bonnet
Or Soda Pop with an ice cream on it.
Or a Fender that cant play a chord
Or a muffler, oh wait. I'm bored.
The US corrupts English words
Then calls them their own, how absurd.
Before you might learn how to walk
You all need to learn how to talk.
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LaoMa, Always funny watching the English and Americans having a language fight :P
Reminds me of the Dutch/Flemish language battles lol
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LaoMa, after speaking English (only) for my life I figure the only way to improve English would be to get rid of it.
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LaoMa, your kind words are appreciated.
Please note that the scope of the TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English.
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Terry E., If you bothered to test the program before complaining. It contains British English variants of all the words/definitions I've checked (colour, theatre, bonnet, etc.). The only difference you might see on definitions is that the common British definition is listed 2nd instead of 1st.
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Chris, says the one who doesn't know how to use an apostrophe!
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Terry E., translation from The Queen's English to American English (WITHOUT looking them up):
Boot = Trunk of a car
Bonnet = Hood of a car
Ice cream soda = Float
Fender = Fireplace screen
Muffler = Scarf
And a few others that you DIDN'T ask about:
Lift = Elevator
Petrol = Gasoline
Telly = Television
Lorry = Truck
Biscuits = Cookies
Chips = French fries
And just an FYI, most of the English language, even The Queen's English, is taken from other languages. It was taken by people from several different languages including Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and German (and more) and made their own. Just because the Brits have been using it for a few hundred years longer doesn't change that their language isn't technically their own, but a conglomeration and bastardisation of others.
And, yes...I'm American.
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Hi, I will always have interest in written word, languages and love playing with words, so I intend to have fun with this Dictionary - no matter if it's prime 'language' is American English, more the merrier!:) Like everyone else I google for words endlessly till I find exact expression I'm trying to use, but having something at hand that doesn't involve going online, or literally searching my bookshelf (how good are these 'ancient' now dictionaries anyway..hmm) - is good enough.
As to fun - I typed word 'xylophone' of the top of my head, why not, to find what rhymes with it and found few lines like: 'alluvial cone', or 'androgenic hormone'. How crazy is that!:)
Thanks for this Gift then, one thing I would prefer, is to have choice where to install this Program (I normally put them on external drive or mem sticks) It went to AppData automatically. Is there a reason why this choice is not offered??
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fran: if a xylophone is indeed attached to the top of your head, it's medical attention you need. Not a dictionary. (Insert big smiley.)
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fran, there's a portable version which you can install wherever you want. Have a look at portablefreeware dot com
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MikeR,
Hahaha!:))
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fran, my understanding is that the default location of the installation was inspired by Chrome and it is meant to allow regular users to install and update TheSage without administrator privileges. This approach works in most cases.
Sophia Jones
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How is this GAOTD version different from the free version available on the publishers web site? Is it only the free upgrades that are available for six months?
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Viking, the promotional license is a professional license with a time limitation, that is, it has all the features of the professional version. Once the promotional license expires, TheSage will default to the standard license and continue to work essentially the same.
Sophia Jones
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Viking, see comment #5
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Does it show syllable divisions of words?
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M. H., in most cases, yes. Our phonetician is currently auditing the phonetic transcription database.
Sophia Jones
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American English - The bane of my life.
No thanks but do 'Have a Nice Day'
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Terry E., Does British English include the word "arrogant"?
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Terry E., Only American. Sad.. thanks for saving me some time.
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Terry E:
Missing you already. . .
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Karl, There is no such thing as British English,
there is standard English (or if you insist English English) and dialects.
The American language is either a dialect or a different language but not standard English
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Karl, Yes, and we spell it properly too ;~)
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Terry E., the scope of the TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English.
Sophia Jones
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Dave Howes,
Don't be silly, both the English and (most of) the colonies spell "it" i t. I don't see a big difference there.
However, there is no "English English", no more than there is an American (dialect, language, ??). American varies from east to west, north to south, city to country, and even within a city) due to settlements of different parts of the country by peoples of different languages. The English settlers adapted and adopted from many European, Asian, and indigenous languages, taking whatever worked for the situation. English English has evolved over time, it isn't the same as it was 100 years ago, and surely not the same as it was 500 years ago. Again, adapt and adopt. And, probably a shock to a lot of USA humans, Canadian (dialect, language) isn't the same as American. Then there is Australian (L or D), or Hong Kong, or Scots, or Irish, or Welsh---. The differences are sometimes subtle, sometimes major. The main thing that can be said about the English language is that the variations show how much influence the English peoples had in the history of the world and how adaptable the language is. Good or bad, that varies with the times and circumstances, and like it or not, you find key traffic signs in most major cities worldwide in English (LD) and whatever is the language of the country. And in international air travel both pilots and air traffic controllers use English.
Then there are the differences in Spanish, Mexican, Nicaraguan,----, or French, (Quebec French (LD)).
And as for the spelling differences (color, colour, etc.), Americans are a frugal lot and we're trying to save ink. Then, of course, we burn gasoline (petrol) like it was self generating and free.
End of my input. Or however you say it in English.
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What happens after 6 months? Does it just stop working?
Curious.........
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LLeon, once the promotional license expires, TheSage defaults to the standard license and continues to work just the same. No data is lost.
Sophia Jones
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LLeon, no. It just reverts to the free version. The free version has, basically, all of the functionality of this version minus a couple things. Check comment #5 for the differences.
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I have owned MS Word & WordPerfect for most all of my "computer life" and having their versions of spell-check and other word checking abilities, has been very helpful - while in their respective programs; but, while not - here is where I think I will use your program most. I did not know until this morning that Google offered a dictionary. Today I learned two things, instead of my usual one. I also spell colour & flavour in the Canadian way, I guess we are more like the French when it comes to "bastardizing" our languages, or rather, pointing the differences out. This is going to take me some time to try this program out & I will offer what I can as I go along. I do hope that still fits within the criteria of assisting you.
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Thomas Roberts, One thing about Canadians, they at least learn their language at school and in general (there are exceptions everywhere to almost everything) write decently. Americans (i.e. in U.S.A.) do not, and unless they study "English" at university they write terribly, make a mess of everything, put in slang everywhere and leave sentences unfinished. I respect the Canadian use of English even though it is not mine.
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Thomas Roberts, please note that the scope of the TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English.
Sophia Jones
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laxative,
Well, I can't let this one go by. "Americans (i.e. in U.S.A.) do not"--really? I studied what was called English (but was really American) in every grade of school, college, and graduate school. A few of my friends and I convinced our graduate school they needed to teach an "English for Scientists" class. Why? Because of the "they write terribly, make a mess of everything" bit you mention. Most of the college level CV/Resume I have read have been terrible wastes of ink, frequently difficult to even understand. And this included people that listed English as a college major or minor. So, I disagree with your "do not" statement, but very much agree with your "mess" statement.
Study does not equal learning. Thus an example of the reason the the American education system is far from being the best in the world. We don't teach to learn, we teach to pass tests (memorize). One of the few shames I have with my birth country. Not the only shame, but one.
Oh, and slang is just language in development. Do you know what portion of today's English (or American) was once considered slang? How much English is considered slang in America?
OK, now I'm done. Really. I think.
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laxative, please refrain from such sweeping generalizations. Not all of us butcher the English language unless we studied it at a higher institute of learning. Many of us still cringe when we see improper grammar and punctuation usages. The thing is, I have seen terrible grammar, spelling and punctuation from people all over the world. I know the spelling differences between American English and British or The Queen's English so that's NOT the issue. I was raised with a respect for the language. If you cannot communicate clearly on the written page, you will not succeed in life.
Just because someone is is an American who hasn't studied English beyond high school does not mean that he or she writes terribly. As you can probably guess, I'm American, but I'm also fairly young (under 40). I'm not a member of a generation that emphasised these skills outside of school. Weren't you ever taught that you can't paint every member of a class of people with the same brush? If not, your education was woefully lacking!
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After a few minutes playing around with the program I must say it is very handy. Has many useful tools for writers and students.
My only true complaint is that it does not (or at least the Giveaway version doesn't) give you an option of where to install. Might not be problematic for most, but is irritating for those who have a small SSD main drive.
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I have had the UK version as a free edition for years. NO auto updates but who cares? http://www.sequencepublishing.com/1/thesage.html
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Thanks Tony. Very useful
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Tony, Brilliant so much better than the Yanky version.
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I just took a peek at their website and the only differences between this version and their free version is: Automatic upgrades to the latest version, Advanced options (whatever that means), Custom appearance and Corporate use. There are a few more but all they really had to say was you pay $$ to help them develop the software.
So, even after the 6-month license has expired, you basically have full function of this from the look of things. I'd like to know what those "Advanced options" are though.
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Silent Wolf, "Advanced options" appears to be a built-in editor for the TheSage.ini configuration file, similar to the about:config page in Firefox.
You can use Notepad instead :)
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Silent Wolf, you have provided a good summary. The professional license is fundamentally meant to finance further development.
Advanced options are meant for "power users" that want to have access to specific GUI customization and behavioral features. When these are requested, they are added to the advance options.
Sophia Jones
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temp10min, indeed, the configuration file contains the options. However, a license is required for the advanced options to have any effect.
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Sofia Jones, I'm not knocking the programme (sorry, showing my Englishness there!) but as a writer and an English teacher, I should point out that the dictionary will only give you the meanings of words, not necessarily how to use them.
Sadly, the idea of using "that" when it should be WHO, is increasing in frequency.
I am referring to "Advanced options are meant for 'power users' that want to have access..."
True, language is dynamic, but I have always learned that it should be, "Advanced options are meant for 'power users' who want to have access..." -- since "power users" refers to PEOPLE, not machines. And people take "WHO", while inanimate objects take a THAT.
You had, “We are also proud to offer features that are often missing in other dictionaries.”
You'd hardly put WHO in that sentence....
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McGree, thankfully I am just a sales representative. I do apologize, nonetheless, if the register I have used is too informal.
Having said this, TheSage includes approximately 55,000 examples of use.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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6 month trial for a $10 program? Not worth the effort of downloading. There are too many free alternatives and free services that make this software unnecessary.
A Google search for "free online dictionaries" results in 75,800,000 results. More than enough to make this offering irrelevant! I really don't think I have the time, in this lifetime, to check out over 75 million possibilities!
Thank you anyway, but no thanks today.
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Daniel, we are proud to offer TheSage at an affordable price.
We are also proud to offer features that are often missing in other dictionaries.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sofia Jones
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Daniel, I think you are missing the point. This is an OFF-LINE dictionary. There are many situations that could result in no internet connection in which case this dictionary would still function while the 75,800,000 online results you mentioned would not.
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Catamus Mann,
How many of the 75,800,000 available FREE offerings have you checked out to determine that they are ALL on-line? I'm sure I could fill my 2 terabyte hard drive with all the off-line dictionaries I could download in one boring afternoon.
Nevertheless, I appreciate your thoughtful comment. Today's offering would save me some time, but I would never really know if there were anything better without looking further.
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Catamus Mann, there plenty of offline ones for free
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ryan, But are they as good? The versions I have tested in the past are pretty limited and lack most of the tools offered with sage. But of course I am the type of person who, in the past, has purchased the Complete Oxford Dictionary on multi-volume disc for several hundred dollars and considered it a bargain for my purposes.
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Apparently this one cant do british english.. pass.
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Daniel:
Why not download it and use it to look up the meaning of "off- line"?
I've a feeling it might be explained in there, and thus of some help to you at this time.
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Daniel, there are two types of dictionary (or lexicon) _ the single language one and the one that translates from one language to another.
The single language type exists in countless languages.
This is a single language one in one language, which reduces the 75 million somewhat.
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Catamus Mann,
Yep, especially if you are having a crisis while trying to spell "Crap, my stupid ISP sucks. Thank goodness I have my off-line Sage to help me spell 'Crap'."
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Daniel, sorry, "free online dictionaries" - results: about 10,400,000 results (0.97 seconds).
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Vlad,
I just tried Google again ("free online dictionaries") and this time it reported 75,400,000 sites. Apparently, 400,000 dictionaries must have gone dark since this morning.
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sad, please note that the scope of the TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English.
Sophia Jones
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Just a 6 MONTHS licence does not really seem to appeal.
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bookman, the promotional license includes updates and support.
Sofia Jones
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bookman, Really wish people would do basic research on their own before posting negative comments.
The only differences between the paid "Pro" version and the "free" one are:
Pro allows for use in commercial environments
Automatic upgrades to the latest version (you can still manually download updates after the 6 month period but will lose advanced options)
Advanced options (very advanced search filters only the most diligent writer or etymologist would likely use)
Custom appearance (honestly not sure what you can change different from the free at casual testing)
None of those features will stop functioning after the
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Sorry, last comment line should have read "none of those non-pro features will stop functioning after the 6 month license ends".
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TK, I come here for a long time now (in fact, I think since the start of this site) and I am 100% sure that if a developer wishes to go above and beyond the standard license agreement and offer updates, support or even upgrades he is completely free to do so. As miss jones already mentioned, this 6 months DOES include support and updates. I believe a few days ago a developer of a program I was not interested in even gave away a lifetime license with updates and upgrades and support.
the GOTD terms are the standard, that is all, what a developer wants to do extra is up to him/her
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TK, this is not a special build. It is a regular build that includes a promotional license.
Moreover, the promotional license is identical to the professional license but for the time limitation. Automatic updates will work as intended.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sofia Jones
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TK,
No, not affiliated in any way with this program or developer. I took the time to download, test, and do minimal research on the product BEFORE commenting. Does it have a few issues that need or could use improvement, yes. But those were not the issue brought up by the OP, I responded to an uninformed negative review with the correct information. If being helpful & informative is considered "protective", I guess I am.
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English is not my first language, but I always write "colour" instead of "color" :D
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lg, the scope of TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sofia Jones
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Warning - Its in American English not the Genuine language used by the rest of the world ;)
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dbnnet, Very many thanks for this. This is the first thing I wanted to know and was afraid I might have to wast a lot of time: first download and instal it (note I said instal not install), try it out, find it is American and then throw it out. Thanks again for the warning.
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Sorry I mis-spelt waste.
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Laxative,
You also misspelled "mis-spelt" !!!
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Laxative, You taught me something too. I've always used 'install' and I'm ancient and English. 'Instal' is alien to me and yet apparently it's the English variant. Thanks. Who knew?
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dbnnet, the scope of TheSage is that of English as an international language. It contains entries from dialects around the world, including their variant spellings and senses. For consistency, definitions are written using American English
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sofia Jones
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Daniel, "misspelt" is correct. It's American that has dumbed down the language by adding "-ed" to any past tense, e.g. "learned" instead of "learnt".
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random,
However, even if your rather slang-ish alteration is correct, the fact that it was hyphenated makes it wrong. Wrong is still wrong.
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random,
"Daniel, "misspelt" is correct."
Not according to TheSage English Dictionary and Thesaurus Professional 7.18
:-)
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Daniel, I don't know what you're referring to as a "slang-ish alteration", but since you used "misspelled" in contrast to Laxative's "mis-spelt", I thought that was your point. Regardless, an unnecessary hyphen is not technically a spelling error, which was your accusation.
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Sofia Jones,
..... for "consistency" the definitions used should be English not American.
"dialects from around the world", well if it's defined as an English dictionary then it should be English as used in England, or change the name of the product.
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JustaboutspeakingEnglish, you have to give them credit for trying. If they said American everyone would complain about it as well. I'm happy they call it English and happy that they try to make it international (but the Brits will never be happy about it). I like that the cost is low (I mean come on, $10 to buy a nice application?) and that they have a decent free version. After reading all the discussions I was happy to pay $10 to promote their efforts. (disclaimer, yes I also donate to open source projects that I like).
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I appreciate your helpful replies to many of the comments here (several, if not most, of which are quite unfair in giving a poor rating to your program because it uses American English rather than British English*). There is absolutely no information on your website about what your company is or where it is located. The "About" page simply has two uninformative sentences of an extremely general nature and a form for commenting, with nothing of substance about your company. Would you be good enough to tell us something about your company and (at least) where it is located? This would be helpful in evaluating your program. Thank you.
* This seems to me similar to the one-star ratings given on Amazon to an external hard drive because its case does not come in blue in addition to black and to an edition of Pride and Prejudice because the reviewer states he or she finds the ending "unconvincing."
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TK, "Aluminium" and "Aluminum" . The first is the English word and pronunciation and the second is the North American word and pronunciation. Both are correct and acceptable.
When first discovered by Humphrey Davy, in England, it was named Alumium but Davy soon referred to it as Aluminum (shock, horror for all us Brits). Later it was changed to Aluminium as it was thought to be a more classical sound. No rights and wrongs just differences.
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Niv, The difference is not only -um and -ium but also Alu- and Aloo-.
Americans "rhymr'it with Noo York.
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wocius, Sequence Publishing is registered in Japan. The workforce (e.g., lexicographers, phoneticians) is international. Our interests are purely linguistic and, thus, the scope of TheSage is that of English as an international language. We consider all worldwide dialects of English to be of equal relevance and, only out of convenience, is American English used as the default written language for definitions.
Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We will do what we can to get you going.
Sophia Jones
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TK, not to side track the conversation but only the Unites States of America, uses "America" in their country's name, hence "America or American" has become synonymous with those from the USA and not other countries in the Americas.
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