READING UPDATE: The Thesaurus- Part 3- Gossipy – Rankness

I never posted a reading update for the month of September. By the time I realized I hadn’t posted yet, October was half over, so I just skipped it and decided to lump September and October into one post. October was a very lean month for reading. I had a few side projects going on and a busy schedule at home.

Two spelling errors that I found during this last batch of pages included an e missing off the end of the word adjective and an s missing off the end of what I assume was supposed to be the word his. Those are the only spelling errors I’ve come across so far. While it is a knock against the editorial staff, it’s still not bad to only have two mistakes in 376 pages. Both mistakes occurred in example sentences and not the main word, making them a little more forgivable.

Reading progress has dipped each month. With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, I have minor concerns about finishing the thesaurus this year. I only need 76 pages per month to complete the journey before we ring in the New Year though. The calendar for November has some busy patches but I believe there will be several opportunities to make up for lost time.

There will be a reading update post for November’s progress. Until then, here are the unnecessary synonyms I came across the last two months:

Heavenly/Empyrean- The latter is a 15th century Latin word derived from the Greek word empurios. I can see the appeal- it’s a flowery, grandiose kind of word but it also sounds a little pretentious to me.

Hypocritical/Pecksniffery- While I love that the latter comes from a character in a Charles Dickens, the word just sounds naughty. I can see Brits getting away with using pecksniffery but American’s should probably stay away.

Introduction/Prolegomenon- Use of the latter word should only be done in the proper situation. Introduction and prologue are suitable for simple, introductory remarks at the beginning of a literary work or theatrical production. Prolegomenon should be reserved only for sophisticated opening remarks on a scholarly work. To suggest it is interchangeable with the other two is inappropriate.

Logical/Ratiocinative- Why waste time and energy on extra syllables? Ratiocinative refers to a very precise form of reasoning. To hear someone use it to describe themselves today, however, would lead me to believe they are a little full of themselves. Call yourself logical and I’ll go along with you. Call yourself ratiocinative and I’ll call you arrogant.

Long/Sesquipedalian- On the surface, this is just silly. Why use a six-syllable word when you can just say long? That’s actually the point though. Sesquipedalian literally means a foot-and-a-half long. It was first used to describe long, unnecessary words in a work of satire. Stuffy literary critics took it too far though, embracing the obscure and ironic word and wielding it as a weapon against authors deemed to use flowery, long, unnecessary words.

Obsolete/In mothballs- Does anyone use mothballs anymore? I took that question to Google and learned that all the advances in central heating and air conditioning over the last 60 years, as well as the boom in synthetic fibers, have all but rendered mothballs and other such clothing storage pesticides unnecessary. Does this mean that the idiom ‘in mothballs’ is itself obsolete? I suppose this idiom was still common 20 years ago but I’m going to check to see if current edition of Roget’s still includes it.

Pabulum/Food- The former is an old Latin word that isn’t a perfect match for the word food. It’s got a history of being used to describe any kind of fodder necessary to keep plants or animals alive, any kind of nutrients suspended in a solution suitable for absorption, and even intellectual food for thought. To present it as such a straight synonym is misleading.

Pusillanimity/Cowardly- French, from Latin, and a few syllables too many, the former may work in the über-intellectual, hoity-toity crowd but it’s not a word to use when communicating with the general public. I’m not anti-big words but you have to respect the fact that they have a very specific time and place to be considered appropriate.


Page Count: 376/528 (71.21%)
Countdown to the Letter S: 26 pages