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Ron89 / thesaurus_query.vim

Multi-language Thesaurus Query and Replacement plugin for Vim/NeoVim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=5341
Apache License 2.0
220 stars 23 forks source link

Any plans for a plugin to look up online dictionaries? #20

Open toshjp opened 7 years ago

toshjp commented 7 years ago

Thanks for a superb plugin! I just recently discovered this plugin when I was browsing the web looking for something I can use while thinking and writing on PC. Looking up dictionaries and searching for the right word sometimes gives us not only fun but insights. The list of synonyms collected from Thesaurus.com seems quite usable and best suited for most purposes.

I am kind of a newbie to vim (using Emacs most of the time) but I got interested in this plugin when I had just a look at it. So just out of curiosity, let me ask you if you happen to have any plans for a plugin to look up online dictionaries like Dictionary.com? Thanks.

Ron89 commented 7 years ago

Hmm, I haven't thought of this yet. And personally I think if we were to implement dictionary backends, it should be another plugin. Currently I find myself already satisfied with vimdictive (maybe because thesaurus.com already provided word meaning when I query for synonym, so I lack a bit of personal drive? Lol) But yes, with a framework similar to this (with a focus on fast redirection), I can make a dictionary plugin much more flexible than that one.

A few concerns though, if we want to create a satisfying dictionary plugin, we need to consider offline use case. Could you think of any good offline solutions?

On 28 Jun 2017, at 8:56 PM, toshjp notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks for a superb plugin! I just recently discovered this plugin when I was browsing the web looking for something I can use while thinking and writing on PC. Looking up dictionaries and searching for the right word sometimes gives us not only fun but insights. The list of synonyms collected from Thesaurus.com seems quite usable and best suited for most purposes.

I am kind of a newbie to vim (using Emacs most of the time) but I got interested in this plugin when I had just a look at it. So just out of curiosity, let me ask you if you happen to have any plans for a plugin to look up online dictionaries like Dictionary.com? Thanks.

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toshjp commented 7 years ago

Thanks for the quick reply. Good dictionaries for offline use, that's a real problem indeed. We have quite a few good dictionaries online to choose from these days. But when it comes to dictionaries available offline, I can hardly think of any that's really worth the trouble of looking up.

I'm afraid dictionaries like GCIDE and WordNet cannot compare with good online dictionaries in terms of reliability and consistency yet. I tried out a plugin that enables you to look up online dictionaries including oxforddictionaries.com (ref.vim and ref-dicts-en) but it was too sluggish (using lynx) and the search result was not easy to read.

Perhaps, I'm a bit too demanding sometimes, for, as you point out, Thesaurus.com provides basic meanings as well as a large number of synonyms and when used creatively a thesaurus could be a better guide for writing than a decent dictionary after all. And of course your personal drive is a matter of cardinal importance. Thanks anyway!

lsrdg commented 7 years ago

That would be great! Especially if working offline... But I must admit that with Thesaurus_query.vim + Translate Shell + a script to acess https://tatoeba.org/eng/ , I haven't used a dictionary in a while.