身为一名ESL的编辑，工作的一部分是帮助作者选择最好的词汇，精确地传达作者想表达的意思。例如，实验结果能够indicate（指出）、suggest（建议）、imply（暗示）或mean（意指）……；科学家能运用technique（技术）、method（方法）、procedure（程序）或system（系统）。哪个词能准确传达语意中的细微差距呢？正确的选词用字对英语非母语人士来说会有困难，特别是同义词间的细微差异，尤其让人感到困惑和无法抉择。
建议英语非母语人士同时使用一般英语词典和同义词词典，对提升用词的准确度会有很大的帮助。我最喜爱的一本参考书同时结合了词典和同义词词典的功能：S. I. Hayakawa (Author), Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary Staff (Collaborator)所编著的《Use the Right Word: Modern Guide to Synonyms and Related Words》。
S. I. Hayakawa博士是一名语言学家、语意学家、英语教授，并于1977～1983间在美国加州参议院服务。
本书搜集了比较同义词（也有反义词）的论文，以最常见的单词为中心将同义词列在同一组。例如，以mean为关键词的论文讨论相关单词的使用，如connote、denote、imply、indicate、signify、suggest、symbolize。下面是论文里的截录：
“Mean is the least formal and the most general in embracing every kind of import a sign may have….”
“… Indicate stresses a rough approximation of literal meaning, whereas imply stresses the unstated associative or peripheral overtones present in a sign or word.”
“… Imply, when compared with suggest, stresses subtlety or complexity of association; suggest stresses tentative alternatives in meaning or a permissible variety of interpretations.”
在以deficient为关键词的论文中，讨论的是inadequate、poor、unsatisfactory间的差异。而关于normal，讨论的是natural、ordinary、regular、typical。每次翻开这本书，我总能体悟到新的东西。建议您不妨考虑为您的参考工具类藏书添购一本好书吧！
*Hayakawa, S.I., ed., Funk & Wagnalls Modern Guide to Synonyms and Related Words (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968), is the original edition, which is no longer in print; I obtained my copy from a used bookseller. A 1987 reprint with a slightly different title is also available used: Choose the Right Word: A Modern Guide to Synonyms and Related Words (New York: Perennial Library, 1987). In addition, a revised edition is currently in print: Choose the Right Word: A Contemporary Guide to Selecting the Precise Word for Every Situation. 2nd ed. Eugene Ehrlich, revising editor (New York: Harper Perennial, 1994).
