Big Words - Make You Sound Smart?

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/big-words-make-you-sound-smart-dont-they/

Here's a link that discusses why using easy words to understand are better for the reader....(grammar is wrong but I am dizzy - sorry)

In one of my graduate classes in education, I had to give an oral essay. I was grossly not prepared and also honestly- bored with the class. So when I had to give my presentation; I tried to use words that sounded fancy and well made me seem like an idiot....never had I been so stupid and embarrassed (after-math). However, it was during that class that I noticed I began forgetting words/names of objects (such as spoon or color red) and also that I began to notice I repeated myself a lot - which soon afterwards I had my first major MM attack ....but back to the point - as I digress and get easily sidetracked...my misuse of words and my attempts to sound grander than I was - backfired. Even now my face is a little hot remembering that day/night....

I also think this link may be good for daily writing tips as well.

 

this was enlighteningingish.

 

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Indubitably!

 

When I was younger, I used to dumb myself down because I was made fun of for using 'big' words. I've been dumbing myself down for so long, that now I'm actually dumb.

 

you are anything but dumb prima donna -


- thanks for the smile

 

yeah but some words are really cool and that I like to use so i'm asking to post words that are 'bigger' but with their meaning so I and others can use them effectively. (please post some words as I'm writing something and am stuck) again!!

flippant: showing a lack of seriousness that is thought inappropriate

toady: a self-serving person who behaves in a servile sycophantic manner, fawning on and flattering people with power or influence

apostate: somebody who renounces belief: somebody who renounces a belief or allegiance

 

arcane:
1. hard to fathom: difficult or impossible to understand
2. mysteriously obscure: requiring secret knowledge to be understood

 

waft: float gently: to float gently through the air, or move something gently through the air

paean - a joyously exultant song or hymn of praise, tribute, thanksgiving, or triumph

putative - commonly accepted or supposed

 

Well Aladdin Fae .... how munificent and unstinting of you ... and just plain nice.

 

unstinting - generous (had to look that up)

munificent - very generous

 

tangent: digression: a change of topic that is not relevant to the subject currently under consideration

 

ditty - short popular song

opprobrium -1. scorn: scorn, contempt, or severe criticism
2. disgrace: shame or disgrace that stems from disreputable behavior
3. source of shame: something or somebody that brings shame or disgrace

 

Minxes..

 

I think the same thing happened to me

the line of thinking in the thread, although tongue in cheek for the most part, is anti-intellectual--anti-intellectualism is popular--witness the number of emails with ideological diarrhea but logical constipation--these usually end with, "if you care...then send this to 10 other people..."

back to the discussion of "big words"--you are taught, if you have formal education, to do a few things
1. use vocabulary your audience will understand--if I am giving a lecture in a graduate class, I use different language than I would with the people helping the carpenter stain my cabinets 2. Sometimes "big words" are necessary to either enrich or actually clarify the communication 3. when you are speaking about a subject in depth, it is easy to use the same words over and over, making the presentation monotonous or dull--varying the choice of words meaning essentially the same thing makes the presentation more interesting--this requires the use of big words at times

I dropped out of high school with only 4 credits and had to join the military and serve in Vietnam in order to have money to go to college--I am not ashamed of my education and don't feel the need to apologize for using big words--anybuddy who dont like it kin kiss my big texass ass (quote Harley Duwayne Penrod the third who says 86% of males who use big words "is queer as three dollar bills")

 

You mean like utilize instead of use!

 

exactly! and this is the very same example I used with one of the psychologists I had review my major honors paper for my undergrad degree--he was critical of the choice of "utilize" in my first paragraph and then I pointed out to him I had used "use" twice in that paragraph and I didn't want to sound monotonous--my father taught me that word when I was very young--he often used "big words" and he was among the least pretentious educated people I ever knew--growing up with him as a father (and my mother who was educated in British girls schools) likely influenced my vocabulary as much as my formal education--would be no different from having parents with horrible grammar and speaking that way yourself

 

When I was a little girl, and mouthed off to my big brother, he said, "sarcasm is the refuge of a weak mind."

When I was a teenager and swore at him, he said, "Profanity is the refuge of a weak mind."

When I was an adult and had an intellectual disagreement with him, he said "You're wrong! Nanna nanna boo boo!"

"Yeah, well who has the weak mind now, huh? huh? You old geezer!" I said. ;D ;D

My older sister simply challenged me to use better descriptives than 'cool;' and to find the correct noun rather than saying, "thing."

I also learned to speak and write to the audience, but when you're speaking to or writing to a broad audience, speak to your intellectual equal. So my speeches went something like, "Well, I've got something really cool to talk about ... about a thing that happened to me."

 

I covered this in a previous post. I received an email that implied a curse if I didn't send it to 10 people, so I sent the email back to the sendee ... 10 times. In the body of the email I wrote, 'I sincerely hope for your sake that you have 100 friends!'

Yes, I know big brother, "Revenge is the refuge of a weak mind."

Nah, nah, nah, big brother "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

 

I love words, not necessarily big words few understand, but wording things in a way to be interesting. I also am who I am and choose to speak/write in the way that I am thinking, although at times censored or manipulated where necessary. But I suck at remembering words. That is why I love my thesaurus.