“…there is no such thing as a true synonym.”

“Those who work with language know that there is no such thing as a true synonym. Even though the meanings of two words may be the same – or nearly so – there are three characteristics of words that almost never coincide: frequency, distribution and connotation.”

Since connotations are subjective, influenced by our own experiences and feelings, if anyone claims to find two words with identical meanings, I will promptly explain why, to me, they mean different things. So there! (grin)

First, a synonym also has to take into account the context of usage. Where two words may not be that similar in definition, in specific usage they may come to be pretty similar.

He cleaned the manure from the mare’s stall.
He cleaned the muck from the mare’s stall.

(Sorry for the scatalogical context – that was just the first that occurred to me, and any horse lover understands the everyday nature of the usage.) Muck and manure are quite different in where they are used, all the variations of what they may connote. In this instance, muck represents a specific instance where the meanings coincide, and the usage limits both to that same meaning.

The other. Don’t laugh. HP presents a color thesaurus.
http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blog...../4914.html
Type in a color name, they show four similar (synonym) and four opposite (antonym) colors. They actually label the columns synonym and antonym. Maybe terminally cute, but I stumbled on an article about it just after reading this one.
http://www.colourlovers.com/bl.....thesaurus/

Thanks for a thought-provoking article!

My best friend and I revel in the perfect word. I remember a fight he had with his GF once, years back.

Her “You said you are angry.”
He “I did not say I was angry, i said I was perturbed.”
Her “What’s the difference?”

To he and I, and probably you, there is a WORLD of difference. To her, not so much.