Fitzhenry and Whiteside Canadian Thesaurus

Description

1135 pages
$23.95
ISBN 1-55041-198-5
DDC 423'.1

Year

2001

Contributor

Edited by Editorial direction by J.K. Chambers
Reviewed by Steve Pitt

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Review

Language is central to any nation’s culture. How people use their
language is one of the defining characteristics of their heritage. A
good Canadian thesaurus, therefore, is not just American or British
words with Canadian spelling. It has to have Canadian words and to
cross-reference words in ways Canadians think and understand.

Fitzhenry & Whiteside Canadian Thesaurus is a bold attempt to do just
that. According to the introduction, it is “built from scratch” with
the Canadian user in mind. Unlike most Canadian editions of American and
British thesaurusi, uniquely Canadian words—like chinook,
dipsy-doodle, Glooscap, seigniory, mukluks, saltchuck, outport, pogie,
loonie, parkette, deke, growler—are incorporated into the text of
this volume.

The book’s crisp format is easy on a reader’s eyes. The paper is
bright, and the type is clear and well spaced with each headword
presented in bold print. Ideal for students, professionals, or any
Canadian who likes to get the exact right word for the job, this edition
features more than 13,000 headwords with 400,000 synonyms; and, because
Canada is a land of two solitudes, 70,000 antonyms are included. Next
time you need to buy a “Canadian” thesaurus, check and see if it
includes the word “Zamboni.” If it does not, how Canadian can it be?

Citation

“Fitzhenry and Whiteside Canadian Thesaurus,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed December 26, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/31595.