Portuguese>English dictionaries

Mariekins wrote:

Hi Amy!
Try and get hold of the Oxford Portuguese -English, English-Portuguese Dicitonary you can get hold of it via barnes and noble's website. this one is great! it's a good reference for business, travel, students and of course for everyday purposes.
It's got over 40,000 entries for both Portuguese variations.

José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

Amy,

As I saw on another thread, you are moving from Rio to the USA. Since this might be your last chance to do it yourself, try to get hold of one EN>PT & PT>EN Barsa dictionary. Though it dates back from the 1960s, you might find it at a "sebo" (used books store). The last pair of these I saw was being offered for BRL 35 at such a store here in Sao Paulo, in good condition.

Okay, there were some official changes to PT-BR ever since, and countless new words came up, but it's still the most reliable dictionary of this kind ever. As a matter of fact, it's the only bilingual dictionary I dare to use now and then.

On the other hand, the Michaelis published at that time (1960s) was the most misleading dictionary ever published. Don't even consider it, unless what you need is lotsa dead weight in your luggage!

Also, is there a really excellent online Pt>En dictionary?

Tobias wrote:
Hi everyone.
Does anyone know if the following are basically the same book:
Antônio Houaiss, Catherine B. Avery
título: The New Appleton Dictionary of the English and Portuguese
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967
Antonio Houaiss Catherine B. Avery
título: Dicionario Ingles/port-/ingles (barsa- 2 Volumes)
editora: Barsa
Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1964.
If not, how do they compare.

Amy Duncan wrote:
I found these Barsa dictionaries on an on-line sebo. One was R$15 and the other R$20. Not bad. I may buy them. Interesting that you mentioned Michaelis. I have Port>Eng one from 1961 and it's awful. Some of the English words are simply made up. This is why I'm looking for a new dictionary. I really don't want that dead weight in my luggage!

José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

I have no idea what kind of delusional individuals developed that old Michaelis. The best use I found for it was to prop up the 16 mm Bell & Howell movie projector when the screen was hung too high. When the VHS, and now the DVD, required operation on a flat, horizontal, surface, they became totally useless.

I once worked near a secretary whose translating skill stemmed directly from her amazing speed in finding any word in that Michaelis. So the company made "slurry pumps", which were normally called "bombas de lama" in Portuguese. On one sunny morning, while translating a bid, she called them "mud bombs"!!!