My latest column in the Malaysia Star. “Please don't use a thesaurus. It does terrible things to your writing. Yes, that's right. Do yourself a favour and forget about thesauruses. They're harmful unless used correctly.”
Very well said. Maybe it's appropriate that the word "thesaurus" sounds like a kind of dinosaur.
Very well said to you both!
The same damage can be done in some public-speaking groups. There is an organized chapter of one such group at one former employer. I once attended to hear a colleague do a presentation. One practice was to have someone provide a word of the day. Each person was encouraged to use that word somehow in what they said.
Now, a lot of nonnative English speakers attended these meetings. And many were painfully misled.
On this occasion, the word was "wax." The presenter correctly presented several different definitions and uses, including the "polish" meaning, as in using furniture wax. "Polish" was listed as a synonym.
Then disaster struck. The president of the chapter, who IS a native English speaker, stood up to introduce the next presentation, and referred to the person as "a waxed public speaker." Waxed? Then it occurred to me that she meant "polished" in the sense of accomplished. Impossible!
Every person after that misused the word "waxed" in exactly the same way. It made me feel ill each time. I never attended such a meeting again.
This is funny: After all the dire warnings and desperate pleadings, he inserts the disclaimer they're harmless unless used correctly. I'm sorry, but it is not very well said! Anyway, who cares about the people who don't use a thesaurus correctly? Isn't that the same waste of time as caring about the people who don't use grammar correctly? Fugetaboutit and spend your precious time enjoying beautiful language! In fact, I say we should all start singing opera-style to each other. At least then people who sing well but have bad grammar can sound good, too.