Which English synonyms do you prefer?

[Patriotic Voter]

I think most people usually stick with one word for many words that there are common synonyms for. Which of these do you normally use? There is no right or wrong, but context matters.

This is an incomplete list in no particular order:

bunny or rabbit
supper or dinner
test or exam
present or gift
holiday or vacation
kitty or cat
sack or bag
physician or doctor
aide or assistant
happy or glad
angry or mad
thankful or grateful
kid or child
baby or infant
mother or mom
father or dad
seldom or rarely
hi or hello
woman or lady
man or guy
server or waiter
loud or noisy
little or small
bet or gamble
start or begin
finished or done
help or assist

Feel free to add any I missed here. I am sure there are a lot more.

 

[HIP56948]

Personally, I despise the word Kids. Every time I hear someone on TV say "I spent time with my kids today". I think of someone playing with their goats.
Just an Australian thing...
I like bunny also

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Here are some more:

rip or tear
below or under
idiot or moron
dumb or stupid
womb or uterus
final or last
terrible or awful
ill or sick
recall or remember
street or road

Also one correction:

finished or completed

 

[Demon]

Rabbit
dinner
test
present
vacation
cat
bag
doctor
assistant
happy
mad
thankful
kid
baby
mom
dad
rarely
hi
woman
guy
bet
start
done
help
waiter
loud
little

Edited for the new ones:

Tear
under
idiot
dumb
uterus
last
awful
sick
remember
street

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Mine are:

rabbit
supper
test
gift
vacation
cat
bag
doctor
assistant
happy
mad
thankful
kid
baby
mom
dad
rarely
hi
woman
guy
waiter
loud
small
bet
start
done
help
tear
under
idiot
stupid
uterus
last
terrible
sick
remember
street

 

[TheParser]

I think most people usually stick with one word for many words that there are common synonyms for. Which of these do you normally use? There is no right or wrong, but context matters.

This is an incomplete list in no particular order:

bunny or rabbit
supper or dinner
test or exam
present or gift
holiday or vacation
kitty or cat
sack or bag
physician or doctor
aide or assistant
happy or glad
angry or mad
thankful or grateful
kid or child
baby or infant
mother or mom
father or dad
seldom or rarely
hi or hello
woman or lady
man or guy
server or waiter
loud or noisy
little or small
bet or gamble
start or begin
finished or done
help or assist

Feel free to add any I missed here. I am sure there are a lot more.

I think that the preferred word is now definitely "server."

If any English learners are reading this, they should consider choosing this word when patronizing an American restaurant.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Here are some more::

unsafe or dangerous
swine or porcine
below or under
lean or tilt
modify or change

 

[Patriotic Voter]

I think that the preferred word is now definitely "server."

If any English learners are reading this, they should consider choosing this word when patronizing an American restaurant.

Don't tell the DP bartenders this one.

 

[KevinKohler]

I think most people usually stick with one word for many words that there are common synonyms for. Which of these do you normally use? There is no right or wrong, but context matters.

This is an incomplete list in no particular order:

bunny or rabbit
supper or dinner
test or exam
present or gift
holiday or vacation
kitty or cat
sack or bag
physician or doctor
aide or assistant
happy or glad
angry or mad
thankful or grateful
kid or child
baby or infant
mother or mom
father or dad
seldom or rarely
hi or hello
woman or lady
man or guy
server or waiter
loud or noisy
little or small
bet or gamble
start or begin
finished or done
help or assist

Feel free to add any I missed here. I am sure there are a lot more.

Bunny for playboy models, rabbits for the jumping rodents.

Supper when it's around the house, dinner when it's going out.

Test when it's less than, say, 2 or 3 pages, exam for when it's more.

Present at special occasions (generally wrapped), gift for all other times.

Vacation. In the states, holiday = Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.

Kitty for nice ones, cat for dubious ones.

Bag. Sack could mean testes, can't have the possibility for misunderstanding.

Physician for the people that see you BEFORE the doctor.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Supper when it's around the house, dinner when it's going out.

Me too

Vacation. In the United States, holiday = Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.

For this reason, I hate it when non-Americans say holiday instead of vacation.

Kitty for nice ones, cat for dubious ones.

What is a dubious cat?

Physician for the people that see you BEFORE the doctor.

That would be the nurse, who definitely is not a physician.

 

[KevinKohler]

Me too



For this reason, I hate it when non-Americans say holiday instead of vacation.



What is a dubious cat?



That would be the nurse, who definitely is not a physician.

A cat, vs a kitty...is the one sitting on the window sill, eying you cooly, daring you to pet it.

 

[KevinKohler]

A politician has an aide, Dr's and bosses have assistants.

Happy is more of a feeling, glad is a form of gratitude.

Angry is more serious, mad is less so.

thankful or grateful I use pretty interchangeably

kid or child - depends on WHOS kid, and if they're acting childish. Plus, kid implies a wider age range. My 12 year old is a kid, but is not a child (most days)

baby or infant - same as above. An infant just popped out...a baby can be all the way up to 1 year old or so.

mother or mom - Depends on whether we're arguing or not. Most days, it's mom.

father or dad - Dad, always.

I seldom use the word rarely, but rarely, it's the only word that works.

hi or hello - Hi for personability, hello for formality.

woman or lady - depends on the person. All females are women, but not all women are ladies.

man or guy- I use guy more often than not.

server or waiter- Server. Waiter or waitress implies sex. Server is safer.

loud or noisy- Noisy is an ongoing state, loud isn't by default.

little or small- Depends. I never say I want a small bit, for food, but I WILL say a small bit for drills. Ain't English fun?!?

bet or gamble- I place a bet, which is gambling. I don't place a gamble.

start or begin- Depends. I STARTED typing this response, because it wasn't grandeuse enough to have BEGAN.

finished or done- Depends. I finished eating my meal, but I'm not done with dinner.

help or assist- You help someone with their English, you assist someone with a project. I guess it depends on level of investment.

 

[nota bene]

Finally, a sexy-talk thread! Yes!

I use "mad" all the time for "angry," but this is regarded as very informal, and it's not precise. "Mad" also means "crazy."

Re "physician," this refers to an M.D. whereas a "doctor" also refers to someone who holds a doctorate.

 

[Court Jester]

I think most people usually stick with one word for many words that there are common synonyms for. Which of these do you normally use? There is no right or wrong, but context matters.

This is an incomplete list in no particular order:

bunny or rabbit
supper or dinner
test or exam
present or gift
holiday or vacation
kitty or cat
sack or bag
physician or doctor
aide or assistant
happy or glad
angry or mad
thankful or grateful
kid or child
baby or infant
mother or mom
father or dad
seldom or rarely
hi or hello
woman or lady
man or guy
server or waiter
loud or noisy
little or small
bet or gamble
start or begin
finished or done
help or assist

Feel free to add any I missed here. I am sure there are a lot more.

Not all of those are actually synonyms. Synonyms are generally exactly or very close to the meaning of a word or idea of the synonomus term being used. For example: all ladies are women/females, but not all women/females are laidies. Ladies like 'gentlemen' impart a sense of civility, or social construct more than simply denoting sex/gender. Eliza Doolittle was certainly a woman, but she was not a lady until she was instructed on how to act like a lady.

The great thing about the English language is that different words impart a variation of nuance. A richness of expression which is not always the case in other languages which have far fewer words in their vocabulary to choose from.