This is outstanding writing advice: there’s no such thing as a synonym. As a writer, it’s your job to find the right word.pic.twitter.com/xSi0V8BDxs
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It's true that there are far fewer synonyms than people think, but there are some. If there were no synonyms, you'd never replace a word with a shorter one, and I definitely do that sometimes.
One can almost always replace "utilize" with "use" without changing the meaning, for example. In fact it's arguably the *purpose* of "utilize" to be a pretentious synonym for "use." That's what's so revolting about it.
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Words that are theoretically synonymous don’t end up being synonymous in practice since using the unnecessarily pretentious version adds a new meaning — one about the author
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Love that your opinions on writing are always so clear cut. Can't say I always agree but I can still appreciate the kind of experience and clarity of thought it must take.
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Well said Paul vs spot on
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Depending on the context, wouldn't that latter imply greater *efficiency* or *expertise*?
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That's because it's french.
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“I feel used” vs “I feel utilized”. The connotation is very different.
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Good example
End of conversation
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Seems to me that it's a two-way street. As we search for synonyms whose meaning is close to our original word, we hone our thinking - which in turn stimulates the search for a yet more accurate word...
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@paulg - slightly disagree but my intent is to learn from you. I am going to try and put a case for utilize here :) To utilize something means to effectively use something. For example, utilize resources doesn’t convey the same meaning as using resources. -
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