Why are synonyms a thing?

Question

I said “multiple” in front of my 4 year old and he asked what it meant. I explained, “it can mean many, several, a lot, bunches” etc.

After explaining to him the meaning I realized— why do we have different words that practically mean the same thing?

In: Other

Answer 1

Synonyms don’t mean *exactly* the same thing. They have overlapping meanings, sometimes very significantly overlapping meanings, but not precisely identical meanings.

Notably, the “meaning” here includes not just the definition but also connotations. “Feces” and “shit” are synonyms with the same direct textual definition, but they have different connotations that convey additional meaning.