I actually bought the book to help me write my columns. Until now, I have been writing my columns in the office in our house (i.e., the room with the computer). We have a dictionary in that room, so there was no need for me to buy a new one.
But after saving my money, I had enough money to buy my own computer, and with the computer being in the basement and the stairs going up on the opposite end of the house-opposite of the office, that is-I wasn't exactly thrilled about having to run to the dictionary every time I misspelled the word "fundamentalism."
Therefore, two Mondays ago, when I went to Wichita to buy a computer, I bought a dictionary, too. The thesaurus wasn't planned on, but it makes good writing.
It's amazing how many different words and phrases a dinothesaurus can come up with for just one word. I'm convinced one of the longest lists of alternative words would have to be for a simple, three lettered word. Why be "sad" when you can be: unhappy, sorry, sorrowful, downcast, dismal, gloomy, glum, pensive, heavy-hearted, dispirited, dejected, desolate, depressed, troubled, melancholy, morose, grieved, pessimistic, crushed, brokenhearted, heartbroken, heartsick, despondent, careworn, disheartened, rueful, anguished, lamenting, mourning, grieving, weeping, bitter, woebegone-I think there's an infomercial for that!-doleful, spiritless, joyless, heavy, crestfallen, discouraged, moody, low-spirited, despairing, hopeless, worried, downhearted, cast down, in heave spirits, morbid, oppressed, blighted, grief-stricken, foreboding, apprehensive, horrified, an anxious, wretched, miserable, mournful, disconsolate, forlorn, jaundiced, out of sorts, distressed, afflicted, bereaved, repining, harassed, dreary, down in the dumps, in bad humor, out of humor, cut up, in the depths, blue, stricken with grief, wearing a long face, in tears, down in the mouth, pitiable, unhappy, dejecting, saddening, disheartening, discouraged, joyless, dreary, dark, dismal, mournful, disquieting, disturbing, somber, doleful, oppressive, funeral, lugubrious, pathetic, tragic, pitiful, piteous, woeful, rueful, sorry, unfortunate, hapless, heart-rending, dire, distressing, depressing or grievous?
It's quite interesting to read all the different words to use. Now I know why the English language is so strange to anyone who wasn't raised with it-you have so many ways to say something!
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As my New Year's resolution, I've decided to do something I know I'll be able keep my promise on. In every column for 2004, I'm going to add a "Useless Factual Observation" (UFO) at the bottom of each column.
As you know, I appear weekly in the Hillsboro Free Press Extra, so if you want to catch all of my bits of fun facts, make sure you subscribe for it!
This week's UFO: If you're ever being chased by an angry gorilla, jump in a river. Gorillas can't swim!
Don't ask why!
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