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How A Thesaurus Of Emotions Could Make Us Fairer
Are we accurate enough when we label how we feel?
I bought my first synonyms dictionary just before printed dictionaries were rendered obsolete by their digital counterparts. I felt so powerful: a flip of the pages could replace years of reading. A basic vocabulary was suddenly enough to access a rich one. Of course, it is not that simple: the seasoned reader can tell when a new writer is copying from a dictionary. Yet, I still love thesauruses.
Do Synonyms Even Exist?
Recently, a friend raised an eyebrow when I mentioned this predilection. I rushed to explain I didn’t mean I thought words were interchangeable. Certainly, the thought that two words could mean the same thing is rather disturbing: why have two when one does the job?
Each word dominates a portion of reality. Even when two words might refer to the same thing, they do so in different ways, with distinct connotations, provoking diverse reactions from the reader. Considering using a dictionary for the sole purpose of not repeating ourselves is rather pointless. If we are repeating ourselves, using different words to mask our repetition will only make our prose inevitably more imprecise and shamefully less honest.