# Online test: How verbose can you be?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-test-how-verbose-can-you-be/381004>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 19, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-test-how-verbose-can-you-be/381004 "2006-11-19T04:37:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-test-how-verbose-can-you-be/381004/1 "2006-11-19T04:37:53Z")

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I found this neat little readability test applet a few minutes ago, and decided to test my BSing skills. Result:  
Indication of the number of years of formal education that a person requires in order to easily understand the text on the first reading  
Gunning Fog index : 42.93

Approximate representation of the U.S. grade level needed to comprehend the text :   
Coleman Liau index : 44.67  
Flesh Kincaid Grade level : 38.51  
ARI (Automated Readability Index) : 39.93  
SMOG : 29.83

Flesch Reading Ease : -138.30

Am I good or what? And by ‘good’, I really mean ‘bad’. Although my scores would be a couple of points lower if I hadn’t started using Word’s thesaurus (which ususally only jogged my memory instead of providing me with the words themselves).

Oh, you wanna know what I wrote?

> [@Me](#):
>
> Secondary educational institutions interrogated attendants selectively, comparing graduates alongside undergraduates; participants infrequently encountered innumerable insignificant difficulties regarding employment opportunities following terminating personal educational proceedings. However, corporate explorations containing informational interviews, additionally, competitive examinations referring previous experience inevitably indicated extremely unprecedented decreases possibly applicable concerning otherwise commendable unemployment percentages.

Not a single word under three syllables, and it makes some sense.

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-test-how-verbose-can-you-be/381004/2 "2006-11-19T04:49:03Z")

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Got a link?

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-test-how-verbose-can-you-be/381004/3 "2006-11-19T05:39:21Z")

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The one thing I forgot: [Here you go](http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp). I feel dumb now…