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other's thoughts, because words are misused
often.
Many words can have the same meaning, but there is nuance and innuendo which might change the entire meaning of the sentence. Writers have to be careful to use the meaning closest to their intent. In the modern world, it seems that as long as you get close, the rest can be inferred. Examples of this are text messaging and vanity license plates. There is a danger in inferring incorrectly, however, and that is why emoticons were invented. I have written in the past about the need for many more emoticons.
Writers do not use emoticons when writing an essay, a poem or a newspaper column, so we are fervent in our search for just the right word; almost to a fault. I would rather leave a blank space on a draft rather than fill it with a word that doesn't have the precise meaning I am trying to convey. Unfortunately, my thoughts don't translate into the written word without some real effort. That is why I keep Roget's Thesaurus by my side.
Roget had a type of mental illness with which he coped by making lists. Many times these lists were divided into categories and rewritten. The longer the list, the better he felt. The longest list was a list of words, categorized by meaning. This list eventually was published late in his life and became the book on which many writers depend for options.
Should I be concerned that the book I use nearly every day was written by a mad man? I suppose I have to be part lunatic to try to write while raising five children anyway.
Having a good grasp of word meaning is important to me. I am proud to say that my ten year-old uses his vocabulary quite proficiently, but not without some challenging pitfalls.
For example, he once thought that by "grounding" him I meant to bury him in the ground. Obviously, I did not make myself clear. He totally took the wind out of my sails.
When he asked, while studying history, what a tariff was, I told him that it is a tax (Continued on page 13)
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