Angie Cheng Semester 2 Week 4- Too many descriptive words...
Angie Cheng
Benedetti
English 11AP
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Blog #4 Semester 2
Week 4: Too many descriptive words... – 3/2/2022 [4:52PM].
Haha now, how could I JUST almost forget about writing a blog…currently typing on notes app in history.
Anyways, who what when where, and why is synonyms and descriptive words... I am sure you never thought of that up…(me neither and that sentence made no sense whatsoever). Can I just complain about how there are WAY too many descriptive words and synonyms for things? As English students, just how many times do we pop open a new tab and search up "a synonym for ____?" I know I have many times for essays and even small assignments. For example, you can describe school as "tiring, boring, sleepy, tedious, dull, stagnant, exhausting, draining," and more. (I did not totally search for synonyms...)
Of course, the English language itself is so vast and there is literally a word to describe anything and everything from a box of tissues to air. I say that the air is clean and clear! And not going to lie though, I feel like, in English, I am just trying to elongate my sentences by adding more descriptive words and synonyms even though I probably should not. And yet, more descriptive words add a more imaginative thought and allow us to vividly picture the words together. We are just really trying to find fancier words to elaborate and sound professional in our writing(which I try to do too). I also feel like teachers try to have us reduce synonyms and words to describe something down to two now and not list them out anymore, which makes sense. But then how can I use more snazzy words?!
This was an extremely weird topic, but yes! Do you guys also constantly search up synonyms for words???
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Comments
I definitely agree with you that there have been points in my life where I am frustrated that there are so many words to describe the same idea (this particularly happens when I am studying for a vocabulary test). However, synonyms allow us to write more creatively. For instance, there is a word called undulating, which means “having a smoothly rising and falling form or outline,” and it is a great way to describe gentle hills. Having multiple synonyms for words allows us to have more options when we want to express our ideas, allowing our writing to be more purposeful and creative.
I do also often search up synonyms of words, especially when I write my essays. Even though they have the same idea, I feel like many synonyms have slightly different connotations. For example, goofy and funny have different meanings and can change the meaning of a sentence easily. A lot of the time, I have a general idea of the word I'm looking for and by going through the synonyms of words with similar meanings, I can find the exact one I was looking for. It is important that I find the exact word I was looking for, because it is the word that can perfectly communicate my message.
Thanks to the copious number of English classes we take and the many essays we are required to write, I’ve come to appreciate thesaurus.com more. Actually a life-saver. There are so many ways to say the same thing, which is totally a blessing and a curse. I did not need several hundred ways to say “drunk” or whatever (apparently it has like, 120 synonyms). But depending on how descriptive and illustrative you want to be, using synonyms can help your sentences feel fresh, getting the same point across, without being extremely boring and repetitive. I notice that this usually happens when writing the thesis and the conclusion of timed writes or long-term essays in APEng.
-Angel
I love learning different abstract adjectives. First of all, using them makes me seem really smart. Second of all, using these words typically confuses other people, and in the words of King Bumi, “messing with people is just really fun.” Lastly, like you said, I think that it's interesting to see the different adjectives that the English language has procured over the years. I hope that I can learn more adjectives in the future to utilize in future AP exams and tests.
I agree that I do this for many English assignments or when I am not sure with the usage of the word. It is just fascinating on how I am just learning and discovering many more usages of a word that I think I have mastered. This is the same thing as the words love and like which many have trouble depicting from. Love is from the bottom of the heart that you really root for someone while like is that you like something with passion or being with someone.
I’m guilty of almost always trying to find synonyms for a specific word due to the basic and weak tone it gives off. Everytime I go to thesaurus.com, I always find myself in awe of how many other words can be similar to one word. However, like you said, synonyms and antonyms can help us elongate and perfect our sentences. For some reason, I always find it satisfying after adding a synonym or antonym to my paper to make it sound “fancy”. In a way, it makes me feel proud of my work and to strive to improve in my word choices when I’m given so many options at thesaurus.com (totally not promoting it at all). I hope one day I can actually remember synonyms and antonyms of a word instead of having to search it up all the time.
Sincerely,
Faith Tong
Thank you for writing about this topic as I just feel more validated now LOL. Yes, I do constantly search up a word and its synonyms especially when I have been using a word a lot in an essay. I will admit that I did this when doing vocab.com because I really don't have the brainpower to digest what the word means and the 4 options that come with it. I also admit that I make sentences really long to make it seem like I am smart (I def did this during the CE Precis).
Sincerely,
Mrinmayee