Thesaurus Day

January 18 is Thesaurus Day.

I’ll bet some of you didn’t know that Peter Roget has his own special day. I certainly didn’t, but here it is upon us.

Peter Mark Roget (1779 – 1869) was a British physician, natural theologian and lexicographer. In 1852, he published The Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.

Here’s the best article I could find on this multitalented scholar.

I looked for a quote from Roget, but couldn’t find one. Instead, I’ll offer these quotes on words:

All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind. — Kahlil Gibran

I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.–- Emily Dickinson

So many words, so many synonyms

And my favorite:

We have an obligation to use the language. To push ourselves: to find out what words mean and how to deploy them, to communicate clearly, to say what we mean. –- Neil Gaiman

 

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