The May issue of The Atlantic Monthly features Simon Winchester, he of The Professor and the Madman, not merely questioning the relevance of this standard old reference but accusing it of being responsible in large part for today's "linguistic and intellectual mediocrity."


Any takers? It can be read online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/05/winchester-p1.htm

After reading the article I feel less apologetic for the fact that I seldom use a Thesaurus. I prefer to put my limited energy into reading more good books. Some of the views of the author seem absurd. Roget was clearly a polymath, but to suggest there are few polymaths today simply overlooks the tremendous increase in information to be mastered so that it would be impossible today for any man like Lord Bacon to take all knowledge for his province.
Whatever the faults of modern literature are, they do not arise from use of thesauri.

It would be interesting to know how many board members use a thesaurus frequently.

Thanks, AnnaS, a very interesting article, if for no other reason than my own previous ignorance on the subject of Dr. P.M. Roget. I can see how the availability and convenience of Roget's thesaurus may have exacerbated the decline in standards of communication, but I fsuspect that the author is laying rather too much of the blame on Roget's, without considering the other factors contributing to the growing problem of alliteracy (sic)A fascinating read all the same, and I am sure that the author is correct in saying that Dr. Roget would be aghast at the uses to to which his work has been put. In my own childhood browsing Roget's and then looking up definitions in a dictionary was a great fun way to while away the hours, and expand my vocabulary,

Firstly let me confess I didn't read the whole article because I am time-poor and I hate multipage article on the web!

Second, I use a thesaurus (Roget's, yes) to help bring back to mind a word I have forgotten. You know, all those ones that lurk at the tip of your tongue but won't come out of your mouth. If I found a word in the thesaurus I didn't know, I'd need to look it up in a dictionary or find some usage examples before I'd be happy using it. That's pretty much how I feel about most words when I first meet them, except that in other contexts, they tend to come with at least one example of usage.

Firstly let me confess I didn't read the whole article because I am time-poor and I hate multipage article on the web!

Second, I use a thesaurus (Roget's, yes) to help bring back to mind a word I have forgotten. You know, all those ones that lurk at the tip of your tongue but won't come out of your mouth. If I found a word in the thesaurus I didn't know, I'd need to look it up in a dictionary or find some usage examples before I'd be happy using it. That's pretty much how I feel about most words when I first meet them, only of course unless they are in a thesaurus, they tend to come with at least one example of usage, so I have something to go on!

Mr Winchester doth protest too much. Whether or not the word lists in Roget's are absolute synonyms or not is largely irrelevant to most users; like Bridget they most often wish to remind themselves of a word with a similar meaning.

Even Mr Winchester admits that Roget wasn't looking for perfection. He was merely classifying (like, as Winchester suggests, Linnaeus). Classification is only a second order judgement. Even given that, whatever his motives were at the time and however flawed the actual product was, it has survived the test of time. People still buy it and (presumably) use it.

To blame it for a diminution of the quality of the use of language is like Cnut blaming the width of his chair legs for his failure to stem the tide at his royal command. The reasons for the general decline in linguistic standards lie firmly elsewhere! Personally, I'd start with the public school systems in most countries, myself.

I never use a thesaurus for assistance with writing. I have a copy of Roget's on my bookshelf but others peruse it mostly. I originally purchased it to help with crosswords ...

Incidentally, I thought The Professor and The Madman was one of the most disconnected books I have read for some time, even though the subject matter itself was very interesting!

I must agree with the general consensus. The larger question is whether a craftsman can be blamed for the misuse of a tool that he has constructed. M*. Roget had an intended audience; that a large body of college English professors decided that his tool was required for their students can hardly be blamed on poor Peter.

(*That's one, Elf)

The larger question is whether a craftsman can be blamed for the misuse of a tool that he has constructed
Too true!
There was a Editor at one paper who was notorious for using poor M Roget to "punch up" copy ... reporters were forever running to him with dictionary definitions to prove that the word used was the correct one!
The article was interesting and I think part of the object may have been twofold : to stir up some talk and to make a few bucks! So, if those two are true he succeeded.
wow