Let's celebrate thesaurus day

The pages in mine, brittle and brown, are held together with a rubber band. The index takes up nearly half of the 484 pages. It’s guided me through countless writer’s block meltdowns when my mind draws a blank for the best word to use. Its author, an Englishman with a French surname, was a Renaissance man who wore many hats: a physician, slide rule inventor and writer addressing electricity, physiology and words.

Today let’s celebrate Peter Mark Roget’s enduring reference book, the thesaurus. Need to find a more descriptive word than the overused “good” or “nice”? Thumb through the index and turn to the list of synonyms.

My high school teacher mandated certain rules when she assigned “themes,” the 1960s term for “essays.” Listed below are several of her caveats.

1. If you use the words “nice” or “good” in a theme, your grade will be no higher than a D.

2. Never use the same word twice in a sentence. The exceptions: “the,” “is” and “are.”

3. Use a thesaurus sparingly. Go through your mental vocabulary list first.

4. If you resort to the thesaurus, know the precise meaning of your alternate choice before using it.

5. Beware, one letter can change the meaning significantly.

Example: “staunch” and “stanch.”

6. Don’t complicate things. If a simpler word suffices, use it instead of one a reader may not understand.

Example: “sell” instead of “vend.”

Mrs. B. had additional rules regarding penmanship, topic sentences and grammar but I’ll save those for another time. I’m winding down from holiday hoopla and need a very nice nap that will do my mental state a world of good. I’m a staunch, or is it stanch, supporter of restorative sleep.

Patricia Misiuk is a Lakeland resident who still prefers a thesaurus in print, crinkled pages and all, to the online version. You can reach her at SHOOK46@aol.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: An enduring reference book