As a writer, I am obviously very fond of words. I simply love them and love to find new and creative ways to say things. One of my favorite writing tools is my trusty thesaurus. I love it. Within the pages of this treasure are literally thousands upon thousands of different ways to say the same thing. Yet each word seems to only be perfect at certain times in my writing. Each wonderful word has its own perfect moment to shine.
The problem with being a word lover is that sometimes you get so many different words in your head actively floating around in your mind simultaneously. While this is handy when you are writing, it does become a challenge when you are speaking with others. You begin to become known as a walking and talking thesaurus. People take advantage. To illustrate my point, here is how my afternoon unfolded the other day:
From my son:
“
“Cuddle.”
“No, that’s to sissy. How about another word?”
“Nestle.”
“Nestle?”
“Yes.”
“Any other words?”
“Yes. Here is my thesaurus. Look it up. I would guess page 528 to 530.”
From my Spouse:
“Honey, what is another word for probably?”
“Plausibly.”
“No, that doesn’t sound right…”
“Try likely.
“No, it needs to be stronger. That it WILL happen.”
“Oh, you mean inevitably.”
***RING, RING, RING***
“Hello?”
“Hey big sister... I need a word for ridicule.”
“Tease?”
“No, that won’t work.”
“Taunt?”
“No, not right.”
“Ok, I’ll go out on a limb here…how about belittle, mimic or disparage?
“Oooo, those are good. Thanks.”
3 comments:
Yes, I do speak thesaurus! I have one directly beside my monitor that my sweet husband bought as a stocking stuffer several years ago and I love it. Mine is the Canadian Thesaurus from Fitzhenry and Whiteside. I like using my paper one instead of an online one because I often see another word on the page that makes me dig. I surf through my thesaurus for fun and once on my blog about a year ago I made up an ode to my thesaurus.
Loved this post. Loved it! I don't have the ability as you have to list alternative words upon demand, but I do use alternatives for effect when speaking. IN addition, I don't have to refer to a thesaurus often when writing except in rare cases. I especially use my thesauric mind in jest. I like to choose increasingly obscure or outlandish words to describe the same thing for laughs. Laughs with people who understand what I'm saying at any rate. ;)
However, I have noticed that my large vocabulary puts many people off. I have to be careful to speak to my audience when I am not around word nerds. When I was in my twenties that meant to talk down to people. You can imagine how well that worked out. Now I see it as simply speaking people's language.
You can rifle them off like that? Amazing. No wonder everybody calls you. You're faster than looking it up themselves. ;)
~Douglas
@TheLaughingImp
Thank you Dana and Douglas! :) It is fun to know I am not alone in my Thesaurus speak! :)
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