What is meant by synonymy? Why is it difficult to define this term?

Do most
synonyms have identical or just similar meanings (or senses)? Do you think true
synonymy exists? Try to support your answer with appropriate examples.
 Synonymy is the relationship between two predicates and sense.
 It is difficult because there is little point in dialect having two predicates
with exactly the same meaning.
 Most synonyms have just similar meanings (or senses)
 No, there is no such thing as true synonymy, For example, ‘skinny’ and
‘scrawny’ mean ‘too thin’ or ‘unattractively thin’, ‘lean’ means ‘thin and
strong’ and the adjectives ‘slim’ and ‘slender’ are used to mean ‘attractively
or gracefully thin’. Few of these words – if any – have precisely the same
meaning.

Identify in the following sentences the pairs of words in upper-case letters which
appear to share the same (or nearly the same) sense. In some (or all) cases, it may
be difficult to decide, so be ready to explain the difficulty
a. Fred always sleeps on the SOFA/COUCH
 Sofa: a long, upholstered seat usually with arms and a back, and can
only be used for seating
 Couch: a piece of furniture with no arms used for sleeping or seating
b. The neighbors have a BIG/LARGE family
 Big: refer to size, amount, extent, importance, seriousness, etc. not used
with quantity expressions
 Large: refer to the size, amount, or extent. Used with quantity
expressions
c. The winning horse TROTTED/RAN to the finish line
 Ran: to move on your feet at a faster speed than walking
 Trotted: a horse’s slowest running speed
d. This table is very SMOOTH/FLAT
 Smooth: having a regular surface that has no holes or lumps in it
 Flat: smooth and level, with no lumps or curves
 e. That is a very HIGH/TALL building
 High: having a long distance from the bottom to the top or a long way
above the ground
 Tall: having a greater than average height
f. That is a very FLAT/SLIPPERY road
 Flat: is having no variations in height
 Slippery: is of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered
in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on
without falling, etc.
Synonyms usually share some but not all senses. This becomes evident in certain of
their uses. For each apparent synonym pair below supply sentences in which the
two words can be used interchangeably without altering the sense of the sentence,
and then give another sentence using one of the words in a different sense (where
no interchange is possible with the same meaning)
a. Small/little
 John built a small/little house
 John will arrive in a little while
b. Hard/difficult
 It was a hard/difficult project
 This surface is hard
c. Long/extended
 I took a long/extended trip
 Julia has a long face
d. Lady/woman
 I saw a pretty lady/woman yesterday
 The first lady stayed at that hotel
e. Cheap/inexpensive
 The book is cheap/inexpensive
 That’s a cheap joke
f. Bright/well-lit
 The room was bright/well-lit
 He’s a bright student

g. Sad/dejected
  You look sad/dejected today
 Today was a sad day
h. Rob/steal
 They robbed/stole from the rich
 They robbed the bank
i. Do the same for the synonym pairs you identified in 4 above.
a. Sofa/couch
 I tried the new sofa/couch
 The lion couched himself by a tree
b. Big/large
 We received a big/large number of complaints
 The escaped prisoner is still at large
c. Trotted/ran


d. Smooth/flat
 This surface is smooth/flat
 The bird is smoothing its feathers
e. High/tall
 The building is high/tall
 There were high winds yesterday
f. Flat/slippery
 The floor was flat/slippery
 I caught a slippery fish
For each term below try to find several euphemism which are less harsh, offensive,
or explicit. For item (h) try to think of several additional examples
a. War: conflict-strike
b. Crazy: disturbed
c. Damn: darn
d. Fired from a job: laid off
e. Blind: visually impaired
f. Toilet: rest room
g. Poor: disadvantaged
h. Crippled: handicapped
i. Stupid: slow