Welcome to My Official Web Page!

Welcome to My Official Web Page!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I Need a Word

Main Entry: thesaurus
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: dictionary of synonyms and antonyms
Synonyms: glossary, language reference book, lexicon, onomasticon, reference book, sourcebook, storehouse of words, terminology, treasury of words, vocabulary, word list

Swiped from Thesaurus.com


I love my thesaurus. My husband bought it for me six years ago when I first said I wanted to write a book and since then, my copy of Roget's Thesaurus has gotten quite a bit of a mileage. I also have a couple thesauruses (looks like a dinosaur name) on my iPhone for handy reference.

I once had a discussion with a writer who claimed he never used a thesaurus. That seems sacrilegious. I have a pretty firm grasp of the English language, but sometimes I just need a thesaurus to help me think of the right word. And occasionally I come across something new.

For example, instead of reaching for my thesaurus, I can now grab my onomasticon. Spellcheck doesn't even recognize it as a real word, but it sounds great. Of course, when using a thesaurus, I have to beware of falling into the tarpit of really great sounding words that stop my story in its tracks. That's bad. Very bad.

Do you use a thesaurus? If so, how often?

BTW- I just posted my interview with agent Mark McVeigh at Secret Archives of the Alliterati.  Check it out!