I think we are talking about 2 different things here... Stemming is Google recognizing plural forms, etc of a word (example: KW= wrap, Google also recognizes: wrapping, wrapper, wraps, etc.). Synonyms are different words with similar meaning. If you enter, "~panties", in Google, these words are highlighted in the searches: bikini, thong, panty, bra, etc. Not exactly synonyms, but they are related. I have no idea how this would effect the serps, unless you were searching for something really obscure. But, perhaps that is what Google is goind for...
No idea, I haven't checked. I thought the fact Google was highlighting words other than the search terms was interesting, that's all. It means they are giving some relevance to those terms - in a pure text search, that wouldn't be the case. Stemming - never heard the term before, but like I've said in the past, this whole SEO thing is extremely new to me, I prefer fishing
That's interesting - if you enter "~striped bass fishing" (without the quotes) "striper fishing" is no longer highlighted Sorry, I don't have time to enter "panties" in Google...I'm very easily distracted