The word that I chose to enter into the visual thesaurus
tool was “creative” from the tenth post that we did. Some of the words that it
came up with as alternatives include “originative” (having the ability or power
to create) and also “constructive” (emphasizing what is laudable or hopeful or
to the good).
In general, I do tend to use a thesaurus quite frequently
when I am writing. Sometimes I find it to be more useful than using a
dictionary because instead of giving me the definitions of a word it would simply
give me any synonyms. I like this because it usually would save me a lot of
time rather than flipping through a dictionary or searching online. However, I have
run into a few problems when I’ve used a thesaurus rather than a dictionary.
One example that immediately comes to mind is during my FYS, in one of the
essays I wrote I was looking for a word that could replace something like “enticed”
and I ended up using “infatuate” –specifically “infatuate my nostrils.”
Needless to say, when conferencing with Dr. Bob he pointed out that I misused
the word.
As I used the visual thesaurus a little more, I put in
some words to see where it would take me in terms of rediscovering words that I
could use. The first word I tried was “love.” Some of the words I found were
great: penchant, wonderment, and predilection. Another word I tried was “dirty.”
Some of the synonyms for this word included: bemire, smirch, and colly.
Overall, this was a great tool because it let me discover
some great ways to use and find new words that I have never had a chance to
really do. All in all, I would consider myself a word nerd because it is so
interesting to know that there are options out there when writing. I also would
consider myself a word nerd because it is so great to be able to add to my
personal vocabulary since knowing big words sometimes impresses others!
No comments:
Post a Comment