The Hub Celebrates Thesaurus Day

Portrait from Medical Portrait Gallery by Thomas Pettigrew
Portrait from Medical Portrait Gallery by Thomas Pettigrew

Happy Thesaurus Day!

While not necessarily a well-known holiday, Thesaurus Day is celebrated on January 18, the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, creator of Roget’s Thesaurus.

The original version of Roget’s thesaurus, created in 1805 and released in 1852, contained 15,000 words. Over the years, the thesaurus has grown, adding thousands of additional words and synonyms. These days, in addition to print versions of the thesaurus, wordsmiths are able to access the Roget’s thesaurus online through Thesaurus.com. If you are interested in a historical perspective, a 1911 version has been cataloged as part of the ARTFL Project through the University of Chicago.

We’re celebrating a day early here on The Hub by using the thesaurus to swap words in some popular YA titles. See if you can figure out the original titles and then scroll down to check!

  1. The Tome Bandit
  2. The Bonus of Being a Loner
  3. Papyrus Municipalities
  4. An Excellent and Dreadful Virtue
  5. The Insanity Below
  6. Swivel Spot
  7. The Examining
  8. Faithful
  9. Break Me
  10. The Choice
  11. Vocalize
  12. A Chain of Ill-fated Happenings.
  13. Gorgeous Critters
  14. Audrey, Halt!
  15. The Commander of the Loops
  16. Thirteen Rationales of Cause
  17. The Categorically Bona Fide Journal of a Part-Time Native American
  18. The Sorority of the Roving Trousers
  19. Always…
  20. 13 Slight Azure Pockets
  21. The Starvation Sports
  22. The Accuracy Referring to Always
  23. The Labyrinth Sprinter
  24. Granted That I Stick Around
  25. Paired

******************************************************

  1. The Book Thief     by Marcus Markus Zusak
  2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower     by Stephen Chbosky
  3. Paper Towns     by John Green
  4. A Great and Terrible Beauty     by Libba Bray
  5. The Madness Underneath     by Maureen Johnson
  6. Pivot Point     by Kasie West
  7. The Testing     by Joelle Charbonneau
  8. Allegiant     by Veronica Roth
  9. Shatter Me     by Tahereh Mafi
  10. The Selection     by Kiera Cass
  11. Speak     by Laurie Halse Anderson
  12. A Series of Unfortunate Events     by Lemony Snicket
  13. Beautiful Creatures     by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
  14. Audrey, Wait!     by Robin Benway
  15. The Lord of the Rings     by J.R.R. Tolkien
  16. Thirteen Reasons Why     by Jay Asher
  17. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian     by Sherman Alexie
  18. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants     by Ann Brashares
  19. Forever…     by Judy Blume
  20. 13 Little Blue Envelopes     by Maureen Johnson
  21. The Hunger Games     by Suzanne Collins
  22. The Truth About Forever     by Sarah Dessen
  23. The Maze Runner     by James Dashner
  24. If I Stay     by Gayle Forman
  25. Matched     by Ally Condie

Have some fun exploring Thesaurus.com and see what you can come up. Share your favorites in the comment below!

– Jessica Lind, currently reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo