Another article that has been viewed quite a bit on BetterDocuments is about a Microsoft Word feature that I believe is still declining in popularity. Perhaps the fact that this article is viewed a lot is an indictor that we all need to be reminded to use it:
Thesaurus: One of the Greatest Tools Rarely Used
Two reasons come to mind that may explain the decline in use. First of all, what would you use to look up synonyms when you're not using Microsoft Word (or any word processing application?) My kids always use Thesaurus.com, or other websites with a thesaurus. Why? Because the Internet is first place we look to find anything - so why would we bother with Microsoft Word for a synonym?
The second reason has to do with not needing a thesaurus (even online) as much. You don't usually worry about how you sound in a personal e-mail message or text message, or when you're using instant messengers, chat rooms, etc. I believe this proclivity is prickling into the way we write all the time(see, doesn't that just roll off the tongue?)
I don't think it matters what thesaurus you use, even if you do it the old fashion way ... a book (yes, Roget's Thesaurus back in the day was just a book.) The point here is that there are still very appropriate and useful opportunities to take advantage of them to make our documents even better.
Luxuriate in the article!
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