Monogatari Series - Volume 31 - Chapter 29

Koyomi Dictionary

Hanekawa Tsubasa is a class president who knows everything.

“Hey Araragi-kun, they say looking using paper dictionaries lets you learn meanings other than the one you specifically searched for, but doesn't that also happen when surfing on the web? If looking up definitions online doesn't help you actually learn them, how would it be any different with paper dictionaries?”

“But you know, back when paper dictionaries first appeared, didn’t they say that if you wanted to truly understand a word’s meaning, dictionaries' abridged versions are no good, and that you should read a book instead?”

“Well then, what did they say when books first appeared?”

“That’s um, uhh…”

I thought a bit, and replied like so:

Reading words won’t help one learn—so to look at real things and not printed versions...1

“Didn’t they say one should go to an exhibit?”

TL notes:

[1] Pun between 本物 (honmono, "real deal") and 本 (hon, "book").