So I went to muster this morning an was doing a turn-over with a junior lieutenant.
I’d heard him kissing up to the Admin Officer this morning on the way to the head, so I sarcastically said: “Boy, there’s nothing like hearing your mellifluous voice first thing in the morning!”
Anyway, he went off! How dare I use big words to him! What am I trying to do? Embarrass him? What are you trying to prove? That you’re smarter?
Jeez! It’s a fucking word, numbnuts! And it was the perfect word, too. Any other word would have detracted from my statement! That’s why it exists! That’s why there is more than one word which means something. The different words are “flavored” slightly differently so nuance can be added to a conversation!
Up until this am I don’t think I’ve ever hear the word mellifluous.
I think the junior lieutenant was wrong to get mad if it were me I would have done one of the following.
Figure you had a larger vocabulary than me and either ask you what mellifluous meant or look it up.
Figure you were trying to be a smart ass and blow you off, I would then look up the word so I could be informed.
In your OP you say that the junior lieutenant was
“Kissing up” so you “sarcastically” said…
I admit to #1 above I do not have an extensive vocabulary.
After looking up the word mellifluous I find it was the word of the month at dictionary .com in February. I also see you were trying to be sarcastic and that prompts me to ask you this.
Do you admit to #2 trying to be a smart ass? If so you can’t very well be mad at the junior lieutenant all he did was rise to your bait.
There’s a difference between getting riled at Chiefy for being sarcastic and getting riled at him purely for using a long word.
Getting angry at someone just for using a long word — well it’s the Junior Lt.'s own badge of ignorance, I suppose he can wear it as loudly and proudly as he likes. In seriousness, all he had to do was ask what the word meant or look it up later.
Showing annoyance to a superior for being sarcastic seems a bit odd. Being sarcastic to the juniors is a privilege of rank, surely?
Forgive my ignorance. I’ve been trying to do a bit of research, hoping to answer the question on my own. Alas, no luck. Best I can figure is you’re an E-8. He’s an 0-2. Is that correct? If so, who outranks whom?
EnderW24: Technically, officers outrank enlisted. Realistically, Lieutenant j.g.'s generally know better -or soon learn better- than to get pissy with Senior Chiefs.
Oh, and BTW, enlisted or not, E9’s are ranker than anyone. (They claim to outrank God. No theologian has ever proved differently.)
You obviously proved you were smarter than that idiot. The scary part is officers like him expect enlisteds to act dumb to make them look intelligent. “You officers is just so smart that use dumb old chiefs don’t know what to think.” Yeah right asswipe, any chief has been there, done that and finished with it while you were still crapping your pants.
Okay, the guy’s uncomfortable with the nuances of the English language, the richest on the planet. As you say, “words are flavored slightly differently to add nuance to conversation.”
Clearly, he would prefer to be addressed in French, a language notable for its precision. For that reason, it’s probably a more appropriate language for military use, at that! If I was in a fox-hole and the guy next to me handed me a “fully-armed fragmentary device” and I had to stop and say “Huh? You mean a hand gren–?” and then my fucking head would be blown off and his too, and where would THAT leave us?
So tomorrow morning, tip him a wink and speak to him in beautiful, flowing French.
Uke, I’m not sure what you mean about French, but my dictionary gives the French word for “grenade” as “grenade” (we borrowed it from them, as a matter of fact). For that matter, “passe-moi une grenade” has the same number of syllables as “hand me a grenade”.
Voilà l’instruction linguistique chiante de votre montréalais préféré…
Typical. I just see this as typical. Some people are so devoted to thinking they are better than you, so when you throw them for a loop with the vocabulary thing, they freak out.
I have an adequate vocabulary, really. Nothing more than adequate. But yet some people don’t understand all the words I use. The smarter ones will just ask what the word means. I will tell them what it means, in a friendly, low-key way. A nice, normal exchange. That’s the way it ought to be.
While I have never had anyone freak out on me, I have had a number of people act as if something is wrong with me because they don’t understand all the words I use. No, nothing’s wrong with me. Just speaking English. Too bad if that’s too much for them.
That’s it in a nutshell. They HAVE to look “smarter” than you, because they are (supposedly) your “superiors”. I started a thread in the BBQ Pit a few months ago that touched upon this concept. It happens in most professions. Many people in the thread related how they received grief from bosses or jealous co-workers because they had a unique talent or ability that the boss or co-worker did not have. (For instance, I do pottery on the potter’s wheel. An old boss of mine COULD NOT STAND that I would talk about pottery with another potter/co-worker, even though we talked about it during our break. All because this boss could not do pottery herself, and was obviously jealous.) I think this stems from the same assholishness as in the OP.
These kind of people cannot stand that their “inferiors” be accomplished or smarter than them in any way.
Maybe your next turnover should be along the lines of “Like, you know man uhh . . .it’s like uhhh yeah man” as this seems to be more his speed. This should be salted with phrases like “the fucking this, that, and the other” as well as “totally,” always a personal favorite. You could follow this with the ultimate turnover, “I had it you got it,” and be on your way.
All the best.
Yes. A LT outranks me – this guy has just put on his “railroad tracks.” I follow his orders. But, I’m also charged with ensuring junior officers receive proper training too – experience is a precious commodity.
I wasn’t being a smart-ass. I wasn’t goading him. I wasn’t taunting him. More than anything, it was a conversation starter along the lines of: “I saw you at the mall last night. Nice shirt!” or “I saw you and your date last night. What’s she doing with you?”
Yes, I was joshing him. But I wasn’t being malicious.
Oh, and I can curse with the best of them. I’ve been complimented on my cursing by the XO, as a matter of fact (He wishes he was allowed to curse like a chief!). But there are times and places for everything.
I wonder if he was born a putz or if he had to work at it.