47Register: standard vs informal and regional English
Informal usage is more prevalent than it was a few years ago. Even in quite formal
contexts, people may be heard using slang expressions, while the use of swear
words and taboo words is on the increase. Taboos generally are weakening, though
more so in Australia, where
bastard
is almost equivalent to British
chap
, and less so
in the USA, where taboos are still strong in southern States such as Texas. This
thesaurus contains a rich selection of informal and rude synonyms for more formal
expressions. Users who wish to avoid offensive words may treat the restrictive
labels as warning notices.
Most of the synonyms given are, of course, part of standard English; that is, they
are in normal use in both speech and writing everywhere in the world, at many
different levels of formality, ranging from official documents to casual conversation.
These general synonyms are given first in each synonym set. Some words,
however, are appropriate only in particular contexts, and these are placed after the
standard expressions and labelled accordingly. The technical term for these
differences in levels of usage is 'register'. The main register labels used in this
thesaurus are the following:
informal:normally only used in contexts such as conversations or letters
between friends, e.g.
swig
as a synonym for
drink
.
vulgar slang:informal language that may cause offence, usually because it refers
to bodily functions.
formal:normally only used in writing, in contexts such as official
documents, e.g.
dwelling
as a synonym for
home
.
technical:normally only used in technical and specialist language, though not
necessarily restricted to any specific field, e.g.
littoral
as a synonym
for
beach
. Words used in specific fields are given appropriate
labels, e.g.
medicine
,
Christianity
.
poetic/literary:found only or mainly in poetry or in literature written in an 'elevated'
style, e.g.
ambrosial
as a synonym for
delicious
.
dated:still used, but normally only by the older generation, e.g.
measure
one's length
as a synonym
for fall down
.
historical:still used today, but only to refer to some practice or article that is
no longer part of the modern world, e.g.
crinoline
as a synonym for
petticoat
.
humorous:used with the intention of sounding funny or playful, e.g.
termino-
logical inexactitude
as a synonym for
lie
.
archaic:very old-fashioned language, not in ordinary use at all today, but
sometimes used to give a deliberately old-fashioned effect or found
in works of the past that are still widely read, e.g.
aliment
as a
synonym for
food
.
rare:not in common use, e.g.
acclivitous
as a synonym for
steep
.
World English
It is an oft-repeated truism that English is now a world language. In this thesaurus,
particular care has been taken to include synonyms from every variety of English,
not just British, and when these are exclusively or very strongly associated with a
region of the world they are labelled as such.
The main regional standards are British (abbreviated to <Brit.>), North American
(<N. Amer.>), Australian and New Zealand (<Austral./NZ>), South African (<S.
African>), Indian (in the sense of the variety of English found throughout the
subcontinent), and West Indian (<W. Indian>). Only if the distinction is very clear is
any finer labelling used, as with
beer parlour
, a Canadian synonym for
bar
.
Scottish, Irish, and Northern English are varieties within the British Isles containing
distinctive vocabulary items of their own. The main synonyms found as regional
terms of this kind are listed here and labelled accordingly.
The term for something found mainly or only in a particular country or region
(although it may be mentioned in any variety of English) is identified by an
indication such as '<<in France>>'. An example is
gîte
(as a synonym for
cottage
).
Many regionally restricted terms are informal, rather than being part of the standard
language. Writers in the northern hemisphere in search of local colour may be
delighted to learn that an Australian synonym for
sordid
is
scungy
, while Australian
writers may find it equally useful to be given the equivalent terms in Britain,
manky
and
grotty
.