I finally bought the limited-edition thesaurus that I've always wanted. When I opened it, all the pages were blank. I have no words to describe how angry I am.
Why this joke works
Save “No Words” for Last
“I have no words” commonly means that emotion has left someone speechless. Here it is also a literal inventory report: the blank thesaurus contains no words that could describe anything. Build the first sentence with real anticipation, then let the empty pages sound like a genuine disappointment. Keep the final sentence intact and place the strongest emphasis on “no words,” not “angry.” The contrast between a book made entirely of descriptive alternatives and a speaker unable to find even one gives the line its payoff.
A closer look
The Missing Vocabulary Creates Its Own Description
The story builds excitement around a rare reference book, then reveals that it contains nothing. “No words to describe” ordinarily signals emotion beyond language, but blank pages make the statement a literal inventory problem. Anger gives the familiar phrase a natural reason to appear. The long setup earns its space by making the desired thesaurus feel valuable before the completely unusable edition is opened.
Fact behind the joke
A Thesaurus Organizes Relationships Among Terms
Library of Congress guidance describes thesaurus records using preferred terms, alternative or “used for” terms, broader and narrower concepts, related terms, scope notes, and history notes. Such controlled vocabularies help catalogers and researchers choose consistent language for indexing and retrieval. A blank thesaurus would lack not merely definitions but the structured word relationships that distinguish it from an ordinary empty notebook.