# Audacity is more than software **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878 "2015-07-22T14:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/21 "2015-07-23T02:47:05Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > FWIW the word audacity has never been uttered from my mouth. I’ve never heard any friends or relatives use it. It sounds pompous and a bit snobbish. Seriously? It’s not a word I would deem obscure at all. I don’t exactly hang with Ivy League intellectuals, for the most part, and it comes up every so often, usually in a phrase like “I can’t believe he/she had the audacity to…” I mean, hell, it’s on [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=audacity), which tends to be a repository for colloquialisms rather than obscure vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/22 "2015-07-23T03:06:30Z")
I imagine the creators of the software were familiar with the word and didn’t just scan the dictionary looking for a snazzy title. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/23 "2015-07-23T05:32:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Safe bet that George Bush (the first one) never did either. I’ve heard the 2nd Bush uses email now to connect with family. I doubt he used it in office. A. Cite? What you think, deduce or suppose in your noggin are not facts. B. George HW Bush left office in 1993. Not very many people had email or internet access unless you were in the government or higher education. Private home computers and internet were not the norm of the day. Cell phones existed, but most people didn’t have them. C. Let’s do a vocabulary building exercise for you. Look up the words Tedious and Asshat. For that last one you might need [http://www.urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/24 "2015-07-23T06:04:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > FWIW the word audacity has never been uttered from my mouth. I have no difficulty believing this. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/25 "2015-07-23T19:00:10Z")
This is creeping up to the insulting line- please refrain in this forum. > [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > C. Let’s do a vocabulary building exercise for you. Look up the words Tedious and Asshat. For that last one you might need [http://www.urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/26 "2015-07-23T19:22:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I saw this article [Obama rediscovers audacity](https://www.yahoo.com/politics/obama-rediscovers-audacity-when-future-historians-124187729381.html) and I’m 😕 Did he use it for his podcasts before becoming President? > > then it dawned on me that audacity is also a word. One that’s rarely used anymore. Its pretty obscure today. I automatically read it as auda-city. 😛 … Maybe I’m just obtuse. But I’ll ask anyway … Are you suggesting the software company pronounces their product “auda-city”? If not, then what are you saying? Color me confused. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/27 "2015-07-23T20:31:03Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > A. Cite? What you think, deduce or suppose in your noggin are not facts. > > B. George HW Bush left office in 1993. Not very many people had email or internet access unless you were in the government or higher education. Private home computers and internet were not the norm of the day. Cell phones existed, but most people didn’t have them. > > C. Let’s do a vocabulary building exercise for you. Look up the words Tedious and Asshat. For that last one you might need [http://www.urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com) Come over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=757628&highlight=aceplace)… ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/28 "2015-07-23T20:35:14Z")
Why, just the other day I heard someone say they were going to eat an Apple! Did you know there’s also a fruit called that!? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/29 "2015-07-24T03:06:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Obama is our first tech President. Carries a Blackberry. That is soooo 2006! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/30 "2015-07-24T11:44:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Maybe I’m just obtuse. But I’ll ask anyway … > Are you suggesting the software company pronounces their product “auda-city”? If not, then what are you saying? Color me confused. 😕 I was confused at that, too. I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “Audacity” the software as anything other than how “audacity” the word is. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/31 "2015-07-24T12:41:15Z")
I use the word audacity when it’s the right word to use. Doesn’t seem like a word that is limited to vocabulary snobs. (pops monocle back in) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/32 "2015-07-24T12:42:11Z")
Given the word ‘software’ in the title, and as a regular use of said software, I gave ‘audacity’ that interpretation. But I’m also a regular use of ‘audacious!’, though not so much of ‘audacity’. The latter tends to suggest, as aceplace57 says, pompous snobbish. The former I use as an appreciation of intrepid boldness. That said, I use a lot of words that baffle a lot of people… ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/33 "2015-07-24T13:28:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It sounds **pompous** and a bit **snobbish**. What’s with the fancy words, professor? Words like “jerkish” and “so-you’re-Mr. Big-Pants” are too plebeian for you? And does anyone have any information about Obama’s podcasts in the early 2000s? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/34 "2015-07-24T13:50:35Z")
[**De l’audace, de l’audace, toujours de l’audace**](http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_l%27audace_l%27audace_toujours_l%27audace_mean_in_English). ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878/35 "2015-07-24T19:22:54Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > igetthisreference.jpg Idont.gif Mindassplainingplease.doc [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audacity-is-more-than-software/725878.md?page=1)