Comments on: Grammar Lesson of the Day: Bury the Thesaurus

By: Howard

Howard — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:04:52 +0000

“When European colonists first arrived in the Americas, the skies could be filled for days by vast flocks of passenger pigeons.” Vast does imply spatial extent, but not necessarily emptiness.

By: Carl

Carl — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:27:49 +0000

I recall taking a “Writing Clarity” course some years ago, during which the leader insisted that we should use the most common “synonym” for less familiar words, in order to simplify our writing. I pointed out that “sashay” and “lurk” might both by broadly equated to walk, but would hardly imbue the text with the same meaning. Still not sure that she understood my point.

By: Christian

Christian — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:03:17 +0000

English will not be corraled.

By: pentamom

pentamom — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:58:40 +0000

Yes, I understood why massive was best, but not why vast was inappropriate. I’d never realized that it had the connotation of empty expanse. Thanks!

By: Michael PS

Michael PS — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 10:42:22 +0000

True synonyms are rare, but they exist, “furze” and “gorse,” for instance.

By: Charles Cassil

Charles Cassil — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:15:56 +0000

Massive also connotes heavy, and that fits the elephant.

By: Tony Esolen

Tony Esolen — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 03:59:56 +0000

On “vast”: It comes from the Latin stock, and suggests wide open wastelands, waste distances, waste emptiness in outer space, and so forth (it is indeed cognate with English “waste”). “Massive” means “great in mass,” and suggests heaviness and bulk.

By: Emil

Emil — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 02:05:05 +0000

RE: Pentamom and “vast.”

In my ear, “vast” suggests a feeling of large emptiness. A room is vast and the Milky Way is vast, but both are mostly empty although their dimensions are large. I surely would not say that a room was massive.

By: ARM

ARM — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:34:40 +0000

Pentamom: “Vast” generally connotes a great expanse or extent – of space, distance, etc., so it’s not nearly as apropos for an elephant as “massive.”

By: pentamom

pentamom — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 15:44:19 +0000

Very helpful. Can you clarify why the elephant’s shoulders are not properly vast? Granted they’re not comparable to astronomical distances, but aren’t they vast *as shoulders go*?