Truly, my best friend forever is the thesaurus. I used to merely like it, but it has worked its way into my heart, become indispensable, and there it will remain as long as I keep writing. Admittedly, I'm stuck on the online version from Thesaurus.com, but, in the olden days, I was equally as familiar with my copy of Roget's Super Thesaurus by Marc McCutcheon. You can see the Super Thesaurus in the photo on the left, I've had it since it was first published in 1995, there is now a 4th edition available.) I also had another thesaurus from the 1940s. Why, you ask, did I use a 70 year old thesaurus? Because, I found it handy when I was working on Kids of the Homefront Army: Poems of World War II America. Language has definitely changed!
As I get older, when I'm writing, I find a lot of words clinging to the tip of my tongue. The thesaurus helps me to shake them loose.
So, do you have a BFF reference source you're dependent on?
From here, head over to Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference to meet more poetry friends.
Oh, we all need at least a pinch of salt and spice and sauce! Great post, Diane. (We won't tell Skippy that a non-feline is your best friend.)
ReplyDeleteI've discovered the online version, too - so many delicious words just a click away.
Poor Skippy is suffering from a UTI, and with two medications being forced on her, nobody is her BFF!
DeleteHi, Diane. Skippy is giving those reference books a good looking over. My favorite right now is Rhymezone.com. I don't know if you'd call it a reference, but I subscribe to AWAD (A Word A Day). There is a theme each week -- I love getting my daily email with an unusual word, or a familiar one with an interesting etymology.
ReplyDeleteA co-worker posts AWAD at the library's check-out desk. It makes for a good conversation starter. My favorite rhyming dictionary is the good old Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary, for kids!
ReplyDeleteI love the thesaurus too! I also like the Flip Dictionary -- kind of like a thesaurus with examples of usage. :) Skippy is adorable. Does he like Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats?
ReplyDeleteNo, she's decidedly unliterary. She only likes books and the bookcase for their head scratch-ability. She, herself, is a very PRACTICAL cat.
ReplyDeleteLike Mary Poppins, Skippy is practically purrfect in every way! ;)
ReplyDeleteI, too, love and depend upon thesaurus.com. Particularly when my husband groans because I'm coming at him again and again with, "What's the word I'm thinking of that's kind of like...?"
At work, most of us are over 60, you should see what a group effort is required in coming up with words, names, titles, etc.!
ReplyDeleteoh yes i remember buying a soft copy of Roget's (in the old days)
ReplyDeletemuch love...