Margaret Houben – Barriere Star/Journal

Thesaurus Day is celebrated on Jan. 18, the birthday of the author Peter Mark Roget (Jan. 18, 1779), who wrote the first modern thesaurus which was published in 1852.

This would be a good day to take a moment or two to browse through your synonym finder and learn a few new terms and phrases.

For those unfamiliar with the word “thesaurus”, it is a book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts. For instance, under the entry for the word thesaurus, one would also find the words: wordfinder, wordbook, synonymy, and synonym dictionary.

And under “holiday” one would find: convivial, festive (and festival), event, celebration, fiesta, vacation, and a whole bunch of other delightful words.

A thesaurus is a very handy tool for a writer, whether it be a story, a novel, or a poem.

When proofreading, if you notice you keep using a particular word many times, dig out the thesaurus and find an alternate word or two.