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babybird
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30 Jul 2022, 2:47 am

DeepHour wrote:
Lol, first minute-and-a-half of this video........




You can't whack it :lol:


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kokopelli
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18 Dec 2024, 6:25 pm

DuckHairback wrote:
Hello. I've notice in other threads a couple of people have mentioned that they don't like when some of the people writing here use long, uncommon(?) words that many others might not be familiar with.

I know that I am one of those people. Growing up my vocabulary was always some way ahead of my peers. I don't think about it. I'm not trying to be clever or make anyone feel inadequate. I don't even notice I'm doing it.

But people have said to me that the language I use alienates people. And I wonder if it does add to the various ways in which I put people off in social situations.

For me, I think it comes from a desire to be precise. I choose my words very carefully and I often find that the lengthier, multisyllabic words carry nuance that isn't there in shorter words. I want to be precise because I'm scared of being misunderstood, as I feel I have been all my life.

So what do you think? Is there value in simplifying your language for others? Is there an obligation to do so? Why isn't that 'talking down' to people? If your goal is to be precise, but you end up turning people off, did you fail?


I like it when people choose their words in order to more exactly communicate their meanings. Trying to interpret what they actually meant to say is often difficult.



kokopelli
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18 Dec 2024, 6:33 pm

It is worth noting that some writers aren't very precise with their words but others are.

Hemingway was known for finding the exact words to convey his precise meaning. Instead of leading to the use of long, obscure words that people don't know, his penchant for using the exact words he needed resulted in simpler and more understandable writings.



OldFartSoul
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24 Jan 2025, 9:52 pm

OP my experience has been almost identical to your description.

I was glad/relieved to encounter a general consensus here because I am all but incapable of not using a few "big" words. If they fits they sits. It's hard enough to share what's in my brain without trying to sound "normal," especially since what's in my brain isn't "normal" anyway.

It's all right if not everyone prefers the way I communicate, but it's not my fault. And I would never be unhelpful to someone I knew had any kind of language difficulty, but like DuckHairback kind of said, threads like this have a broad and opaque audience.

I'm proud of my vocabulary, not because it makes me somehow superior, but because I've cultivated it and it helps me express myself. If I'm out and about and hear someone use those SAT words, that can be a very rare moment of instant connection for me: does anyone else have that experience?



Carbonhalo
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25 Jan 2025, 12:39 am

I loved my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary when I was growing up, when all my schoolmates had a Concise version (mind you, it was too big to take to school, so I also had a concise).
I enjoyed the exactitude of expression and nuance available by employing less used language, and whereas I did sometimes annoy others with the unfamiliar, I was often called on to interpret too.

It all somehow seems devalued by the ability to get a definition and return to what you were reading in 3 taps of the screen, and no longer having the retention that I once had, I don't experience the joy of English as I once did.



ShwaggyD
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25 Jan 2025, 12:54 am

DuckHairback wrote:
Hello. I've notice in other threads a couple of people have mentioned that they don't like when some of the people writing here use long, uncommon(?) words that many others might not be familiar with.

I know that I am one of those people. Growing up my vocabulary was always some way ahead of my peers. I don't think about it. I'm not trying to be clever or make anyone feel inadequate. I don't even notice I'm doing it.

But people have said to me that the language I use alienates people. And I wonder if it does add to the various ways in which I put people off in social situations.

For me, I think it comes from a desire to be precise. I choose my words very carefully and I often find that the lengthier, multisyllabic words carry nuance that isn't there in shorter words. I want to be precise because I'm scared of being misunderstood, as I feel I have been all my life.

So what do you think? Is there value in simplifying your language for others? Is there an obligation to do so? Why isn't that 'talking down' to people? If your goal is to be precise, but you end up turning people off, did you fail?


I think it sometimes is beneficial to sometimes simplify your language with people, both spoken and written, but it depends on who I am talking to. If you want your words to be understood you need to speak in a similar language. It can be hard in a place such as WP because of the wide range of strengths and weaknesses each of us possess with reading comprehension and word understanding. I worked as a writing tutor in college and had to help many ESL students with their writing. There and with them I had to use a much simpler vocabulary and slower speaking speed to help them comprehend our conversation and assist with their written comprehension.

I understand what you are saying however as I too have been told that I use big words when writing by some people who seemed annoyed by it. It isn't done out of malice or arrogance so I ignore them as I don't know what else I could do. I found sanctuary from the madness of life early on in libraries, reading whatever I could find to read that provided information about my latest obsession/special interest. Libraries and universities are full of big words and bigger ideas that shape our minds and vocabularies. I worked in a writing center at college to help pay for my education, a place where people were almost always using the biggest words they could as much as possible in their writings.



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25 Jan 2025, 6:04 pm

I was raised in an environment of abnormally large vocabulary, so I've always naturally communicated in this way. Most people find my mode of speech more amusing than anything else. I'm happy with the way I talk and I don't care if some people don't like it.


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Jakki
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25 Jan 2025, 8:28 pm

Bigger Words...! hooray....problem is brain only processes the Most accurate Words for any given sentence .
But in deference to peeps with a difference in vocabularies . often will try to put simplier .words in parenthese.
immediately afterward the big word....if , i can break it down or think of the right simplier word afterwards .


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CockneyRebel
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27 Jan 2025, 11:20 pm

I use big words sometimes. I just hope I don't scare off other members when I'm doing it.


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