Our vocabularies are shrinking. National Thesaurus Day is a nice reminder to revisit lesser-used words.
๐'๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ (๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐, ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐, ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐๐!) ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.ย As someone who works with words, I often reach for a thesaurusโand I can remember the times when that meant reaching for an actual book!ย
๐ ๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ญ:ย The first English thesaurus is credited to Peter Mark Roget, an English physician and philologist. From 1848 to 1852, he compiled approximately 15,000 words to create the first volume. (1)
๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ญ: Research has suggested that adult vocabularies are declining. (2) Others have proposed that our vocabularies aren't declining but simply evolving, for instance with tech-related words gaining precedence over words relating to the natural world. (3)
Whatever the reality may be, National Thesaurus Day is a nice little reminder to dust off some of those lesser used synonyms instead of always using the same words over and over. I enjoy sneaking in the occasional ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ข๐ญ.
๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง?
(1) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Peter Mark Roget."ย https://lnkd.in/dnp94T4z
(2) Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell, and Ryne A. Sherman, "Declines in vocabulary among American adults within levels of educational attainment, 1974โ2016."ย https://lnkd.in/dcfQb8wW
(3) Kristen Page, The Wonders of Creation: Learning Stewardship from Narnia and Middle-Earth.ย https://lnkd.in/dXJ2APeY
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