Two days ago (January 18) was National Thesaurus Day in America.
This is something we have never heard of in Australia (hence, I missed it!)
So, let’s catch up.
First, what is a ‘thesaurus’?
The word appears to have been coined in English in 1823 by George Crab (1768-1851) in his Universal technological dictionary: or familiar explanations of the terms used in all arts and sciences.
Crabb was an English legal and miscellaneous writer.
He published a number of dictionaries, including his often-reprinted Dictionary of English Synonyms.
But why January 18?
Because that is the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, the writer of the most famous thesaurus of them all: Roget’s Thesaurus.
He was born on January 18, 1779 (he died in 1869).
His landmark thesaurus was first published in 1852.
The original edition had 15,000 words and each successive edition has been larger, being updated regularly.
The most recent edition (the 8th) is up to around 443,000 words.
The Oxford defines a ‘thesaurus’ as ‘a collection of concepts or words arranged according to sense’.
Each entry in Roget lists a number of words that say (approximately) the same thing—but each with a slightly different shade of meaning.
So, by consulting an entry in Roget’s Thesaurus you can find the exact word you want, with the precise meaning you want to convey.
And Peter Mark Roget compiled his great dictionary not alphabetically, but by grouping concept words according to their range of meanings.
The word ‘thesaurus’ comes from ancient Greek and means ‘a treasury or storehouse.’
Which is exactly what the clever Mr Roget has given us.
(Or, I should say, Dr Roget—he was a physician by profession.)
Mind you, one of my grandsons insists that ‘thesaurus’ should mean ‘a dinosaur that knew a lot of words’!
To the best of my knowledge, National Thesaurus Day has never been celebrated here in Australia, or, I think, in Britain—which is very slack of us!
The American ‘Holidays Calendar’ website says who started this holiday, and how and why, is unknown.
(Mind you, having a ‘day’ to celebrate everything and everyone is a very American habit!)
And I should inform you (in case you don’t already know) that there is now a website called thesaurus.com.
On that site they say that: ‘One of the most direct benefits of using a thesaurus is that it helps you avoid repetition. No reader wants to slog through a book or article in which the writer keeps using the exact same descriptive words over and over again.’
All of which I agree with.
So, Happy Thesaurus Day (for two days ago).
TO SUSCRIBE TO THE FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCROLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
MEDIA...
BY THE WAY...
And here's my latest column for Sky News -- on how to fix the ABC: My solution to fix the ABC’s ‘middle class welfare’ culture entails a carve up of radio stations, privatising television network | Sky News Australia
The latest issue of Australian Geographic is out now (with the humpback whale on the cover) -- inside are my two small columns on 'Placenames' (looking at 'Pukatja/Ernabella') and 'Ozwords' (this time about 'selfie').
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
I have just taken part in Jenny Wheeler's podcast "The Joys of Binge Reading." You can listen to the conversation here:
https://thejoysofbingereading.com/kel-richards-country-house-mysteries/
I have signed the anti-Semitism pledge, and I encourage you to do the same. You can sign the letter here: www.saynotoantisemitism.org
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
BOOKS:
* My latest book is -- "Defending the Gospel" (second, fully revised, edition). You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
