The Well-Spoken Thesaurus: The Most Powerful Ways to Say Everyday Words and Phrases

by Tom Heehler

The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Language
If you’ve ever fumbled while trying to use a big word* to impress a crowd, you know what it’s like to* be poorly spoken. The fear of mispronouncing or misusing complex words is real and leaves many of us consigned to the lower levels* of the English Language. The secret to eloquence, however, lies in simplicity—the ability to use ordinary words in extraordinary ways.

The Well-Spoken Thesaurus is your guide to eloquence, replacing the ordinary with the extraordinary. While a common thesaurus provides only synonyms as mere word-for-word equivalents, The Well-Spoken Thesaurus is filled with* dynamic reinventions of standard words and phrases.

*lofty word, pretentious word *know what it is to *lower reaches, lower echelons *awash in, instilled with, dense with, rich in

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Communication, Language, Self Help, Linguistics

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Tom Heehler is an American writer and lexicographer, best known for his critically acclaimed reference work and style guide, The Well-Spoken Thesaurus: The Most Powerful Ways to Say Everyday Words and Phrases (Sourcebooks, 2011 -- now in its fifth printing). The Chicago Tribune calls his book "A celebration of the spoken word." "Take your writing to new heights," raves the Gotham Writers Workshop.

In addition to American newspaper and radio venues, Mr. Heehler's writings have attracted favorable notice internationally. He's been quoted by The Economic Times of London, The 43rd Saint Gallen Symposium in Switzerland, The Times of India, QFinance, and the TEDx Spanish Twitter feed, to name a few.

Heehler -- a distant relative of Funk & Wagnalls co-founder Isaac K. Funk -- has coined such literary terms as verb displacement, intuitive description, and rhetorical tension, all of which are subjects of essays featured in his book's 50-page style guide, "Rhetorical Form and Design." He's also -- uncoincidentally -- an avid collector of English-translated works by 17th century German philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz -- the creative genius from which his next book, The Periodic Table of Divine Madness: Organized Creativity and the World's First Idea Machine, takes its inspiration.

Reviews

[Flybyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as Margaret Atwood once said: “Word after a word after a word is power”, words are powerful and the way we use them communicates in ways we cannot even imagine, telling everything about us from our educational background to our political views.

And here we have a remarkable collection of words and phrases that will further enhance your eloquence and articulation, a great resource for both personal and academic development.
Mind you, this is no ordinary thesaurus. It only contains beautiful versions of ordinary words we use in daily life without much notice. There are amazing rhetorical formulas here that can be applied to everyday use in order to create linguistic chemistry in writing and help us become verbal alchemists. A great resource book to consult when in need. Here’s my favorite analogy from the book:

“Words are like spices. Take care to select the proper ratios and flavors. An embarrassment of sugar will leave your prose flowery and pretentious. Too much garlic, and your writing will taste academic and stiff. Too little salt, and you’ll be dismissed as pedestrian. And always be mindful of your audience. Try not to serve vichyssoise to a coal miner, and do not give Cheerios to the queen of England. Neither will be amused.”

Recommended.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a copy editor, I’m happy I purchased this. I’ll definitely keep it at my desk at work. I’ve finished only the front section so far, which includes 17 lessons on word choice and makes examples out of Hemingway, Margaret Atwood and even Barack Obama.
These were insightful and fun to read. I would even venture to say that they are inspiring, particularly if you’re like me and your writing/editing job is more business-oriented and less creative.
The lessons serve as an important reminder that no matter the kind of writing or editing you do, there is always room to play with words and to be fresh and imaginative in your work. Every day you have this chance!
So I’m going to recommend NOT skipping the introductory content. It’s too good to pass up.
I haven’t used the thesaurus part of the book (and it does make up more than 3/4 of the book) but I look forward to it. There’s something I like about looking up words in a real book and not just googling all the time for an answer.
Only drawback so far: there are some print errors in the front sections. One passage gave an incorrect page number for a word list. It also appeared that text in several places was meant to be highlighted using bold or italics for the reader, but it didn’t print that way. Unfortunately these details are important when the author is asking you to analyze specific portions of text within longer passages.

[Akhil Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing Tips I learnt:
• Emphasis: Replace “-ful” with “a source of.”:
– Her continued absence is regretful for us all. VS.
– Her continued absence is a source of regret for us all.
• Literally: Interpret your figure of speech in a literal way:
- “I remember once how I let myself fall in love; _____________________.”
- I remember once how I let myself fall in love; now I always work with a net.
• Agency by Hemingway:
- He died in April. VS Hemingway's poetic style:
He is dead since April
- The manner in which the eggs were to be cooked excited them vs was an excitement.
• Objectification:
- He understands the irony VS. The irony does not escape him
• Creative Singular:
- “Where a toad may live” is more interesting than “where the toads lived” because it is specific to a single toad. Specifics tend to carry more interest than generalities.
• Shape-Shifting
- Don’t cause a problem; find a solution. VS. Don’t cause a problem; cause a solution.
- The problem isn’t so much that we don’t know enough, but it’s as if we aren’t good enough. The trouble isn’t so much that our scientific genius lags behind, but that our moral genius lags behind.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, how do you give a thesaurus a 5-star rating? -Easily, it is probably the most useful thesaurus I have ever come across that helps me in not only finding other synonyms for a word, but for everyday phrases as well. The little lessons in the beginning are very interesting and helpful as well. Being in post-grad school now, and writing more essays then I would like, a thesaurus of this caliber is a very useful tool to have on hand.

[shixuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was of course a quintessentially Callum recommendation (which is to clarify that I would not have picked up this work otherwise)... anyways I find that my preferred means of self-expression, which some have praised as eloquent and others (mostly reddit users) have denounced as "talking like chatgpt", comes to me intuitively (as it ought to for anyone) and therefore couldn't rightfully be elevated by a guide like this - even if I wished to refine my expression.

Best not to think about the intricacies of eloquence (or poor attempts at metaironic commentary, or questions on linguistic relativity) too hard x

"Have you ever used a lofty word and felt embarrassed at having done so?"

......No......?

[Pradeep Badatiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would certainly re-read this book if i would be given the time again. Impressed.

[Charity · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Read the beginning of this book and let me know what you think of it,” said my spouse. The book was a gift to my spouse from his boss. He genuinely wanted my opinion of the book, but he also wanted my opinion about whether the gift was a veiled jab from his boss. Well, ex-boss.

I don’t have much to say about either issue. I put a lot of value on thinking about words and how to choose them and use them to mean what you say. Or maybe to mean what you mean through the medium of what you say because sometimes it’s more effective to mean something different from what you say.

So, the concept is fine, and the examples are okay, but this seems like a book for people who don’t read, or who only read Hollywood gossip magazines and self-help books. Because when one reads literature (in the sense of emotionally complex writing that requires a bit of effort from the reader), doesn’t one internalize the writing style of the author and it seeps into one’s own speaking/writing style like how I unintentionally start speaking in a vaguely Australian accent when I’m around people from Melbourne or with a bit of a twang when I’m hanging out with friends from Texas? No studying required, just the activation of mirror neurons or something.

My spouse argues that it’s useful even to readers of literature to have the nuances of the language pointed out, and perhaps my experience with accents is a point on his side of the argument.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm one of those idiots out there, especially when it comes to speaking well,

I'm one of those idiots out there, especially when it comes to speaking well, so this book has been a bit of a saving grace for me in that regard. I think it's safe to say that their are a plethora of useful alternative phrases and words in this book for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Alot of them are keepers for sure, very eloquent indeed.
I docked a star because alot of words only have one alternative and some of the alternatives (Not that many) have a somewhat different meaning to the original word/phrase.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good idea but poorly executed ... some of the entries are incorrect, there are a couple of typos, and many of the offered alternatives are decidedly worse. Yet the principle flaw, for me at least, is the selection of starting words and phrases. Any decent writer would never be tempted to choose most of them in the first place. The list is more at the level of the corporate email, and for that, this book would certainly make vast improvements. But that's not the field where most people coming to this book would want to improve. All told it's either preaching to the choir or giving a sermon we have little use for.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, I’ve encountered bias before in similar reference books, but never so blatant. Picking on an author for how she phased her dedication? A dash of petty. As for his opinion of Glenn Beck, the author’s issue appeared less with “rhetorical sin” of craftiness and more with Glenn Beck.
Overall, helpful book. The chapters on various authors’ techniques and the thesaurus aided me in various endeavors.

[Fouad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book section of this title is relevant to people who plan to push their spoken abilities one step ahead of the crowd. Although I read this book, the vocabulary that I could actually use in the industries I worked in, - Food service and technology- was limited, since we already use jargon to communicate efficiently.

The thesaurus part of this book is a great tool when used as an e-book with “ctrl+f” to search for alternatives to commonly used expressions.

[Poppy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What an Stinking mistake

What a lousy mistake i made buying this book & throwing away $11.00. I can't afford to flush money down the toilet where this book should be going. What a waste!

[Vivian Nguyen]

Reading this makes me want to try to be a good writer. Just wow.
The first few chapters’ words transported me to the dimly lit English lit classes in high school. I wish my English teachers had taught English this way-easy to understand. I would have been persuaded to learn better.

[Lex ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend if you’re writing or editing!

[Sue Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic resource for writers

An interesting book to dip into, and a great book if you're stuck and just looking for a little inspiration for a phrase.

[Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5* writing reference book

This guide begins with a survey of the famous authors’ and poets’ writing style. Each writer gets their own brief chapter — an incredibly brief two pages. Using passages from their most famous works, the introduction highlights how these writers employed various tools to make their work both poetic *and* accessible.

I’m transitioning back into nonacademic writing after too many years inside the ivory tower. I can already tell this book is going to be an incredible stepping stone!

[gudetamama · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some people who speak so elegantly, and you can't quite put a finger on why, or how. This book posits that it's as easy as substituting a few of your common utterances with more poetic equivalents. There are a lot of "that's brilliant!" moments, but there were a few suggested phrases that sounded pretentious. So use with care, or you'll come across as a little fusty.

This is like that other book "15,000 Useful Phrases", only this one isn't as florid.

[Timmy P · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I am ever stuck-in-a-rut, and can't think of any cliche alternatives, I will pull out my digital copy of Well Spoken and save my bacon. About a third of the book has some fun literary examples of what to do, and what not to do that are priceless.

[Ronald J. Pauleus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veryyyyy good tips and insights!

“The most accomplished speakers use words in ways that compliment their thoughts and ideas, not overshadow them.”


A book that will continually be used. Like a dictionary, but with context.

[The Geekery Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.