Well, Elly, I hate to break it to you but this is a bad idea. A thesaurus will have curse words in it. You may be giving Mike a way to learn new curse words.
Uggghhhh, one of my pet peeves. It’s "I bought you each a thesaurus not both. Since there are two books it’s each, if they were expected to share one book it would be both.
As someone who wrote a lot of poetry in my younger days (the joy of English majors), my thesaurus was my BIBLE. I still have one, even though I can obviously use a virtual one on my computer.
I actually had to do this for a Junior High English class only we used a dictionary. Fun fact: everyone in my family comes to me when they want to spell a word or know its definition. Guess it worked.
Choice of words is always a balance between precision and being understood. I let it slide when I hear somebody use “blatant” (which means loud) in place of “flagrant” (which means unabashed). I guess if’n it’s okey dokey with y’all, it’s copacetic with me.
I tend to talk to kids – including my own – like they actually have a brain. When my daughters were toddlers we had a bath game where I would ask them a question and, when they answered, I would wipe the answerer’s face with a facecloth, muffling what they say…then I would tell them, “Don’t mumble! You need to enunciate!” They loved this game. When my older daughter was in kindergarten, each child had to “bring a word from home” written on a piece of paper. While most kids brought words like, “cat”, “book”, or “bed”…she brought “enunciation”.
My mother did this. She bought my brother and I each a thesaurus and we were to learn a new word each day. Far from resenting this project, we enjoyed it. If you want to express yourself well, you need a vocabulary!
howtheduck about 7 years ago
Well, Elly, I hate to break it to you but this is a bad idea. A thesaurus will have curse words in it. You may be giving Mike a way to learn new curse words.
Templo S.U.D. about 7 years ago
oh, har-dee-har-har, Mike… enough with the paleontology puns already
Rosette about 7 years ago
Dinosaurs didn’t die a million years ago.
Argythree about 7 years ago
SPOILER ALERT
Hard to believe that Mike ends up as a writer when he’s so allergic to words other than curses…
Macushlalondra about 7 years ago
Uggghhhh, one of my pet peeves. It’s "I bought you each a thesaurus not both. Since there are two books it’s each, if they were expected to share one book it would be both.
VampiricUnicorn about 7 years ago
A thesaurus: a writer’s best friend. Also known as: how to describe something without using the same words twenty zillion times in a paragraph.
Katsuro Premium Member about 7 years ago
We don’t see Ellie using a very voluminous vocabulary either. Just saying.
dlkrueger33 about 7 years ago
As someone who wrote a lot of poetry in my younger days (the joy of English majors), my thesaurus was my BIBLE. I still have one, even though I can obviously use a virtual one on my computer.
tripwire45 about 7 years ago
I actually had to do this for a Junior High English class only we used a dictionary. Fun fact: everyone in my family comes to me when they want to spell a word or know its definition. Guess it worked.
docforbin about 7 years ago
Every year since 1982 my mother has given me a Word of the Day Calendar. It’s pretty interesting.
flagmichael about 7 years ago
Choice of words is always a balance between precision and being understood. I let it slide when I hear somebody use “blatant” (which means loud) in place of “flagrant” (which means unabashed). I guess if’n it’s okey dokey with y’all, it’s copacetic with me.
Carl Rennhack Premium Member about 7 years ago
Is there a synonym for “thesaurus”?
GirlGeek Premium Member about 7 years ago
How can you expect the kids to improve their English if you don’t know the basic difference between “Each” and “Both”?
Linguist about 7 years ago
My Roget’s and my Strunk & White, both well-worn from use, are my most beloved and essential writing companions.
Wren Fahel about 7 years ago
I tend to talk to kids – including my own – like they actually have a brain. When my daughters were toddlers we had a bath game where I would ask them a question and, when they answered, I would wipe the answerer’s face with a facecloth, muffling what they say…then I would tell them, “Don’t mumble! You need to enunciate!” They loved this game. When my older daughter was in kindergarten, each child had to “bring a word from home” written on a piece of paper. While most kids brought words like, “cat”, “book”, or “bed”…she brought “enunciation”.
johnec about 7 years ago
She wants them to learn lots of new words – but only the RIGHT new words!
They would learn lots of new words watching late-night TV or going to R-rated movies!
johnec about 7 years ago
Thesauruses went extinct even longer ago than dictionaries – but they both only found in the fossil records these days!
Seed_drill about 7 years ago
We used to use the OED to find Middle English curse words.
tuslog1964 about 7 years ago
What is a synonym? A word you use if you can’t spell the first one!
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] about 7 years ago
Lynn’s Notes:
My mother did this. She bought my brother and I each a thesaurus and we were to learn a new word each day. Far from resenting this project, we enjoyed it. If you want to express yourself well, you need a vocabulary!
masnadies about 7 years ago
The punch line is even more relevant these days. In fact, when this strip was initially out, we did use a thesaurus at school!
michael_ortiz about 7 years ago
dank meme