I came across someone saying "printed book, kindle, and [iPad]".
Is "printed book" a natural term? Are there any better synonyms?
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Sign up to join this communityI came across someone saying "printed book, kindle, and [iPad]".
Is "printed book" a natural term? Are there any better synonyms?
Before computers and e-readers, there were other types of non-print media on which one could read a book: microfilm and microfiche, for example, and photocopy. Book used to mean printed book when I was a kid half a century and more ago.
Now it's necessary to distinguish between printed and electronic versions of "books". Many of my foreign friends in Taiwan own Kindles, iPads, and tablets, so they read ebooks. A few diehards still buy paperback books, and one or two still buy hardcover books.
As J.R. says, there isn't a current standard for the natural term, but I don't find anything unnatural about printed book or print book. When people learn that one of their friends has a book and want to borrow it, they always have to ask whether it's a printed or electronic version, what the format is, and whether it's DRM-protected.
Using the term "a Printed book" will raise some eyebrows if you use it on a regular basis. However, the person you came across wanted to distinct ebooks from normal books, which are very different. Because of that, he used the adjective printed to make a distinction between electronic books on the kindle and ipad and those that are made out of paper.
The usage is correct in this context. Some other ways to make the distinction clear could be:
In the OP's given context, "printed book" is perfectly natural, since it's contrasted with other options. But in isolation, it would sound rather strange.
One might say "Did you read it in print, or electronically?" But again, this manner of expression requires a contrast.
For an actual paper edition, one could say "hardbound" or "softbound", but that's probably too specific. "Print edition" could be a substitute if it's really necessary to identify the physical medium without comparing it explicitly to something else.
(This reminds me of the neologism "analog watch", which didn't exist until direct-reading electronic watches became popular.)