Something made me open a Thesaurus to the D words
… And find a chapter replete with synonyms that capture our dictatorial, deadly, damaging, depressing and disturbing New Abnormal.
Have you ever heard a story about someone who’s hit a low point in his life and this disconsolate person spots a Bible, which he opens and the first verse he reads provides him instant peace, clarity or hope?
This is not one of those stories. However, this morning, while sitting in a waiting room, I spotted a book shelf and the first book I saw was titled Scholastic Student Thesaurus. It’s a thesaurus for junior high-aged kids.
At the time, I was thinking about the embarrassing reader metrics of one of my recent stories.
(In two days, my article “Did Covid Begin in America?” generated only 3,500 “reads” - a figure approximately 40 percent lower than most of my recent stories. A story I thought was one of the more-important I’ve published was opened and viewed by fewer people than any story I’ve written in the past year. This response (or non-response) struck me as … interesting, as perhaps another “tell” about the power of Taboo Topics.)
For some reason, I got up, selected the book and opened it to a completely-random page. I was actually thinking about this Bible analogy and was curious what the first word I read in this Thesaurus might be.
The first page I opened was Page 61 and the first word I saw was “disappointment.”
The last synonym for disappointment is “disillusionment.”
Intrigued by this exercise and because I like the layout of this thesaurus (which includes approximately 14 large-text words on each page), I kept scrolling through D words.
Virtually every word I read in the chapter applied to the subject I was thinking about.
For example, in the same column as the word disappointment, I quickly read these words:
Disability.
Disabled.
Disagreement - synonyms: dissent, heresy, argument, contradiction, opposition.
According to the synonyms, the disabled are those who are encumbered, people who are now handicapped or broken.
Those who dissent from the authorized Covid narrative are trying to speak up for people who are now … broken.
In the next column is the word diligent. Synonyms of diligence include perseverance, persistence and thoroughness.
Was someone sending me a sign that I should try to persevere? To the entity that compelled me to pick up this book … Does persistence pay off?
***
On Page 60, I found these words:
Dictator, dictatorial, die, differ, different.
For years, I’ve felt different than many people. Dictatorial figures who have caused countless people to die … disturb me.
***
My eyes scanned back to Page 61, where I saw the words “dirt” and “dirty” (one synonym of which is “obscene.”)
I’ve now observed many things in the world that strike me as obscene, which I realized perfectly describes our times and is an adjective I should use far more often.
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Page 63 features only nine words - every one of which resonated with me.
Disobedience - Questions: Who should free citizens obey? Shouldn’t all citizens obey God or our conscience first?
Disobey - Is it sometimes okay to NOT comply … to disobey?
Display - When I read this word, I thought about how authorized narratives are often presented - displayed - to citizens of the world.
Disprove - synonyms include discredit, refute, rebut, invalidate, expose, debunk.
Almost every article I’ve written in the last four years could be described by all seven of these bold-faced words.
Another question: Are citizens practicing disobedience if they disprove a false narrative?
Distance - one synonym is “expanse.” One reason I believe a contagious virus was spreading across America months before Covid was supposed to exist in our country is the expanse of geography where I found antibody-confirmed early cases.
To me, the vast expanse of distance between numerous possible cases connotes a contagious virus that was … spreading person-to-person across an entire continent. (Geography and timelines both matter).
Distinguish - one synonym of this word is “compare” which I try to do in my writing when I try to provide context.
Distort - misrepresent, pervert, misconstrue, stretch - change, lie.
This book was published in 2002 before the word “dis-information” had been coined. Intentional misrepresentations or distortions of the truth - a lie - is the textbook definition of dis-information … except the current definition states government officials never distort the truth.
Distract - which means deflect, which is a way to cover-up a lie. Liars often deflect.
Disturb - unsettle.
If you read my last story about Citizen Journalist Laura Mueller, you saw that one of her key conclusions (shared by myself) is the theory this virus and pandemic might have originated in our own county and been produced by our own government. For both of us, this conclusion/possibility is extremely disturbing and unsettling.
***
Working backwards, I checked out words on Page 59, several of which would apply to my life’s work of recent years.
Destroy - damage, devastate, blight.
Detail - A specific feature … Details matter if you are trying to connect dots.
***
Page 58 includes …
Depression - despair, despondency, dejection, sorrow, misery.
***
I kept scrolling backwards, all the way to Page 55, which was the first Page of the D chapter. The second word in the D section of this Thesaurus is …
Damage - devastation, ruin, havoc, mayhem, injury, sabotage.
Dangerous - deadly, destructive, harmful, perilous, treacherous, explosive.
Comment: “deadly, “destructive,” “harmful” and “perilous,” are, of course, all synonyms MSM writers and experts used to great effect to describe a novel coronavirus.
But what if this narrative was disproved? What if everything was a misrepresentation? This, again, would be extremely disturbing.
***
The last two words on the first page of the D Chapter are …
Dead and Deadly.
According to this Thesaurus, “deadly” means fatal, lethal, murderous, homicidal, toxic, noxious, dangerous.
I think “deadly” might be the most dangerous word in a Thesaurus because if something is perceived as being “deadly,” this gives license to would-be dictators to inflict tremendous damage upon (or destroy) entire societies.
***
Out of curiosity, I glanced at the prior page - the last page of words that start with the letter C.
Curious - is one of these words, a word that means inquisitive. A truly inquisitive person knows by now that nobody in the world (who matters) is genuinely curious.
Also, the word cry is on that page.
***
At the bottom of each page, in yellow, smaller print are other words that start with the letter D.
I was looking for an appropriate word to end a column about a writer who’s looking for answers. I think I found it.
Discernment -“wisdom.”
If someone’s prayer is, “God, give me wisdom,” the answer to this prayer might require discernment. One has to be able to distinguish between the truth and lies.
With wisdom now discerned, such a person should then endeavor to persevere.
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*** (Thank you for reading Bill Rice, Jr’s newsletter) ***
Perhaps wisdom - or discernment - would mean dropping or not pursuing certain topics?
I think the drop in your readership is in part due to "doom-fatigue." I've been reading dozens of stacks for the last 4 years to educate myself as I am staving off the damage from the "covid" attack on those near and dear to me, but the scale of the crime and its antecedents are being continually revealed and it's overwhelming. Paralyzing. I appreciate your stack dearly.