The Well-Spoken Thesaurus
Tom Heehler
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What makes Hemingway remarkable is his ability to make simplicity sophisticated, to give ordinary language a timeless and poetic feel
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IS [consider dropping this word in special circumstances] “Good-bye—if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that [ ] a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico—ah, that is euthanasia!” Ambrose Bierce in a letter to his niece Lora -remains -constitutes -is by far -is, if nothing else -as is standard practice when -qualifies as -is proving to be -is subject to -survives -is of course -serves as -has tendencies towards -is that of -finds itself -is of great importance -is the personification of -personifies -is the product of -amounts to no more than -is at once apparent in
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LOOKING FOR -in search of -out for -trolling for -in pursuit of -in want of
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LEARN -glean -gather -acquire an understanding of -familiarize oneself with -unearth -stumble upon -increase your knowledge beyond -gain a better understanding of
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LIKE (I LIKE IT) -I welcome it -is it to your liking -it resonates with me -I’m leaning towards the view -it has found favor among -I find her agreeable -I favor -I have an affinity for -it was well received -they are responding well to the -it appeals to many -I’m partial to -I have an affection for -I’m fond of -I took pleasure in -I was taken with her -she speaks well of him -there’s something to be said for
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LIKE (SIMILAR) -recalls a certain -much like -reminiscent of -marked by “His movements were marked by the lizard’s disconcertingly abrupt clockwork speed; his speech was thin, fluty, and dry.” Aldous Huxley, Chrome Yellow -akin to -much the same as -it’s ____ian -has the character of -calls to mind -reflects -captures the elegance of -epitomizes -is suggestive of “He is in shirt sleeves, with a vest figured with faded gold horseshoes, and a pink-striped shirt, suggestive of peppermint candy.” Upton Sinclair, The Jungle -conveys -evokes -is akin to -reminds me of nothing so -rather like -along the lines of -bears a resemblance to -bears the stamp of -is not dissimilar to -is in the nature of -is analogous to -corresponds with -is in the manner of -is characteristic of -it’s not my nature to -is typical of -is evocative of -is similar to that of -is an echo of -as “The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without sound, black and glistening as blood.” Ayn Rand, Anthem -is in the form of -as expressed in -such as one might expect from -in a way that suggests -much as -of the sort -with the air of -wore the stamp of *Consider dropping “like” altogether: “The young man reveres men of genius, because, to speak truly, they are more [ ] himself than he is.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Poet”
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MOST IMPORTANT -foremost of these -above all -seminal -more so than anything else -central to -overriding -salient -chief -most noted -pre-eminent -____ of the first rank -of the greatest consequence
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MOSTLY -in large part -to a great extent -primarily -largely -principally -chiefly
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NO -far from it -I think not [confrontational] -no such -not by any means -not in the least -in principle, yes [diplomatic] -no _____ to speak of -not the slightest -I won’t allow it -you’ll do nothing of the sort -to the contrary -quite the contrary -none among
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NOT -by no means -not by any means -not gone so far as to -not for a moment -not so much as -nary a -a far cry from -not in the least -on no account -in no respect -God forbid -nothing doing -anything but
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OBVIOUS -evident -conspicuous -goes without saying -axiomatic -explicit -manifest -a forgone conclusion -patent -well-pronounced -plain
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ON THE SAME PAGE -working from the same script -simpatico
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PLAYING DUMB -laying on the Socratic irony She’s playing dumb to make you look ridiculous. She’s using Socratic irony to make you look ridiculous.
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TO QUOTE -to borrow from -to approximate____’s remark “It was only that, having written down the first few fine paragraphs, I could not produce any others—or, to approximate Gertrude Stein’s remark about a lesser writer of The Lost Generation—I had the syrup but it wouldn’t pour.” William Styron, Sophie’s Choice
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ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT -ne plus ultra {Latin, nee plus UL-truh} “The Reagan Revolution is widely considered to be the ne plus ultra of the conservative movement.”
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UNBELIEVABLE -I find that hard to accept -implausible -frankly it stretches credulity -incredulous -scarcely to be imagined -it flies in the face of credulity -beyond belief
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UNDERSTAND (I UNDERSTAND THAT) -I take it that -I recognize -I can gather -I can’t fathom -I comprehend -I can’t make out why -the______does not escape him “The irony does not escape him: that the one who comes to teach learns the keenest of lessons, while those who come to learn learn nothing. It is a feature of his profession on which he does not remark to Soraya.” J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace -I grasp the situation -I am given to understand -I have come to understand -it is not lost on me -I arrive at understanding -I have it that “It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call length, breadth, and thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others.” H. G. Wells, The Time Machine As far as I know, the flow of oil has stopped. I am given to understand that the flow of oil has stopped.
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UNIQUE -stands apart from -inimitable -sui generis {Latin, SOO-eye JEN-er- us} -singular
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VERY -you are nothing if not -terribly -desperately -all too -most -markedly -highly -particularly -exceptionally -well -fiercely -intensely -exceedingly -profoundly -startlingly -immensely -only too -far and away -much -painfully -fearfully -more than a bit -acutely -heartily -decisively -in the worst way -to a great extent -ever so -considerably -by far -______to an extreme -clearly -indeed -assuredly -so much
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WANT -favor -require -intend for -covet -desire -care to -wish to -long for -have designs on -long to
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WANTED TO -had hoped to -felt very much inclined to -it had been the ambition of _____ to be -burned to “He had burned several times to enlist. Tales of great movements shook the land. They might not be distinctly Homeric, but there seemed to be much glory in them. He had read of marches, sieges, conflicts, and he had longed to see it all. His busy mind had drawn for him large pictures extravagant in color, lurid with breathless deeds.” Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage -desired to -longed to be -cared to -did so want to -yearned to “It was not that I no longer wanted to write, I still yearned passionately to produce the novel which had been for so long captive in my brain.” William Styron, Sophie’s Choice
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YEARS OLD -a man of seventy five - years of age “The stranger’s eyes were green, his hair burnt to a straw colour. I judged he was sixty years of age.” J.M. Coetzee, Foe
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YES -precisely -so it seems -to be sure -no doubt -it would seem so -most assuredly -without reservations -such is the case