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do you use big words?
yes, but I usually dumb down my speech for others 47%  47%  [ 15 ]
yes, and I don't dumb down my speech for others 38%  38%  [ 12 ]
no, I use puny, underfed words 16%  16%  [ 5 ]
Total votes : 32

en_una_isla
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17 Jan 2007, 9:00 am

...otherwise known as polysyllabic mots justes? If I don't bridle myself, I rabidly morph into incomprehensible monologuing.


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KurtmanJP
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17 Jan 2007, 9:58 am

Yeah. Sometimes I do. This post isn't proof but i'm kinda in a hurry to get to school now.


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scrulie
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17 Jan 2007, 10:30 am

I really enjoy using long words but I try to control it around most people.


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17 Jan 2007, 10:33 am

I have an aspie-ish coworker who uses big words. We work in a group home so there's a fair amount of writing involved (to document what's going on in the day-to-day lives of the residents), and sometimes I have to get a dictionary out to read her writing. One that stands out in my mind - "_____ was counseled on healthy food choices when she surreptitiously removed from her bag a chocolate bar, and consumed it with voracious rapidity." (Lol knowing that resident though, her wording couldn't have been more perfect for that situation.)

And from the night shift, other people will write that one of the residents woke up for her 0630 meds, went to the washroom, then went back to bed. (Usual routine, written something like "meds @ 0630/bathroom/back to bed".) My one coworker, though, will write something like "awakened at 0630 for meds, voided, then requested to return to sleep."



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17 Jan 2007, 11:09 am

using overly complicated language tends to make other people view you as a show off so I generally use the best word for the conversation, not the one that I think would make me seem smart, just to show off.


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sigholdaccountlost
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17 Jan 2007, 11:12 am

Yep when I'm talking to myself or my stuffed toys. I dumb it down for other people...unless I want to insult them.


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Corvus
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17 Jan 2007, 11:15 am

alex wrote:
using overly complicated language tends to make other people view you as a show off so I generally use the best word for the conversation, not the one that I think would make me seem smart, just to show off.


Compliments

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unless I want to insult them.


I speak in words that gets my point across. I dont have an huge vocabulary. I'd say its 'normal.' I dont do a lot of reading outside of internet.



alex
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17 Jan 2007, 11:17 am

sigholdaccountlost wrote:
Yep when I'm talking to myself or my stuffed toys. I dumb it down for other people...unless I want to insult them.


well, yeah. then i just call them a Gnathostomulida. Oddly enough, that tends to be a fitting insult in most situations.


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Corvus
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17 Jan 2007, 11:21 am

alex wrote:
sigholdaccountlost wrote:
Yep when I'm talking to myself or my stuffed toys. I dumb it down for other people...unless I want to insult them.


well, yeah. then i just call them a Gnathostomulida. Oddly enough, that tends to be a fitting insult in most situations.


Word not found via www.dictionary.com :?:



alex
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17 Jan 2007, 11:23 am

Corvus wrote:
alex wrote:
sigholdaccountlost wrote:
Yep when I'm talking to myself or my stuffed toys. I dumb it down for other people...unless I want to insult them.


well, yeah. then i just call them a Gnathostomulida. Oddly enough, that tends to be a fitting insult in most situations.


Word not found via www.dictionary.com :?:


that's because it's latin. 8)


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logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 11:26 am

Using any word someone does not know down to "Disease" can get people confused and insult you :)


This is it's definition...

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A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. Sometimes the term is used broadly to include injuries, disabilities, syndromes, symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts these may be considered distinguishable categories.


I get called it for using a small word with the longest definition for it lol



en_una_isla
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17 Jan 2007, 11:47 am

en_una_isla wrote:
...otherwise known as polysyllabic mots justes? If I don't bridle myself, I rabidly morph into incomprehensible monologuing.


That ought to have been rapidly :lol: :lol: :lol:. I had just woken up when I typed that. Rabid sounds good too, though.

I dumb down my speech constantly, even now I'm doing it. For every word I want to use, I redirect to a few others I "should" pick from.


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jackie31337
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17 Jan 2007, 12:03 pm

I've always believed that one should never use a large word when a diminutive one will do. ;)

I work as a technical writer, writing in English for readers who are not native speakers. I have to very carefully consider my word choice so that the readers don't need a dictionary to RTFM.



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17 Jan 2007, 12:08 pm

alex wrote:
sigholdaccountlost wrote:
Yep when I'm talking to myself or my stuffed toys. I dumb it down for other people...unless I want to insult them.


well, yeah. then i just call them a Gnathostomulida. Oddly enough, that tends to be a fitting insult in most situations.


Well GEE, then you ARE showing off! Lately, you seem to be really against such things. HEY, most of the posts here have had pretty sedate verbiage and weren't even nearly as ostentatious as this post, let alone the one about ethylated libations!

Does anyone here think it is REALLY showing off if you just don't ask yourself if the word is common enough to be used around the "hoi polloi"? BTW I don't normaly use that term. This may even be the first time. Given the circumstances, I couldn't resist! :oops: Sorry if that sounded too pretentious.

At my last contract, for some unknown reason, a guy was asking me about some arcane words. They weren't words he would ever use there, and it was doubtful he would even ever want to use them. He made it clear he just wanted to know if I knew them, and several times asked why I was the only one he knew that knew these words. And NONE were as unusual as "Gnathostomulida", or did you mean "Gnathostomulids".

Many were words such as "modicum". Though that is a bad example, because it is not so uncommon or long, it is the only actual example I can think of at the moment. I never bothered to remember them all.
BTW I don't think I have ever even really used modicum before.

It IS odd. I get asked some odd questions sometimes. Like one guy at a school I went to asking me about what temperature scales I knew. I started with KELVIN, and he shutup.

Steve



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17 Jan 2007, 12:10 pm

absofluckinglutely


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SteveK
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17 Jan 2007, 12:30 pm

en_una_isla wrote:
en_una_isla wrote:
...otherwise known as polysyllabic mots justes? If I don't bridle myself, I rabidly morph into incomprehensible monologuing.


That ought to have been rapidly :lol: :lol: :lol:. I had just woken up when I typed that. Rabid sounds good too, though.

I dumb down my speech constantly, even now I'm doing it. For every word I want to use, I redirect to a few others I "should" pick from.


You're dumbing it down HERE? WHY? Even ALEX should agree that we should be able to act like ourselves here. Just don't do it to try and look smarter. Alex IS right there. If the speech is like nothing but big words, etc... It just looks DUMB! But words here and there should be fine. What is the WORST that could happen? People have to lookup the word, and maybe learn something. YIKES! Frankly, I welcome that!

HEY, I used to dumb down words(OK, akronyms) like RAM! EVEN when I dumbed that down, I used the word in front of computer engineers and programers. I STILL use the word ROM in front of engineers.

Steve