A friend of mine just told me that I use “snooty language” and that I should try not to use big words so often when I talk to people. I didn’t even realize that I used big words.
The impetus was an email I sent to my fellow officers in a club (I’m the prez)
She objected specifically to my use of the word “contentious” as in, “This meeting is going to be really contentious tonight”, then later, I described some as being “prone to hyperbole”. I didn’t mean any of it as an insult or anything, I was just speaking frankly.
I get the big word thing a lot, too. My sister gets especially nasty when I correct her misuse of words. I’m sorry, I enjoy the English language, and hate to see it abused. Feh.
stick to your guns, man! a person’s use of language is integral to his personality, and you wouldn’t want to lose that (provided that you aren’t just being a pretentious bastard by speaking the way that you do! :))
On the one hand, language was made for communication. If you’re not communicating, you’re doing it wrong.
On the other hand, it’s understood that you’re using English. If their knowlege of English is lacking, you can’t hold yourself responsible.
I think the trick is to write in such a way that those who have a small vocabulary will still understand the important bits of what you’re saying, and those who have a larger one will gain a deeper understanding by catching the nuances.
Example: someone claims to be sick, but the way he says it makes it obvious he’s lying. You could be common and say “Your excuses were obviously BS.” Or you could be pedantic and say “Your casuistry belied your condition.” But the point might be given better by saying “I’m afraid I don’t believe your excuses, as I can recognize excess casuistry when I hear it.” See? If he doesn’t know the word casuistry, he still gets your point. And if he does know it, then he understands your message better.
Of course, the main problem that the OP suffers is not one of using highfalutin’ words–it’s knowing which perfectly acceptable words with readily apparent meanings are actually unknown by hoi polloi. Since I suffer from the same condition, I sympathize.
There is a difference between using omphaloskepsis (as I did a week ago) in a deliberate effort to make a point and using a quite mundane word, only to discover that your audience considers the daily paper to be written in arcane language.
My two favorite stories involve the workplace. In the first, someone was pointing out snowmelt running across the parking lot and I said something about the rivulets. I suddenly had seven or so people giving me hell for having either invented the word or dragged it out of the dustiest corner of the OED. In the second, I was taken to task for having used the “big word” surfeit. I pointed out that it only had seven letters and two syllables, but that did not appease the mob that congregated around my cube. I was still pronounced guilty by a jury of my “peers.” I went home that night, turned on the TV, and watched Mel Brooks use the word quite hilariously in The Muppet Movie. (I guess it’s OK to use around children, but not around college-grad techno-geeks.)
Eve - yes I do. I also wave a big brick of $100 bills in their face at the same time and smoke a big cigar.
Actually, what I’m worried about is the impression of doing so and that’s why I made the post. To me, good language usage is just a natural thing, but it must not be so to other people. I don’t mean to be snooty - it’s just the way that I speak and write and read. My friend got me thinking that maybe just the simple usage of those types of words might give such an impression. Hmm…
Surely the most ridiculous example of this must be the guy who was suspended for offending his co-workers by his use of the word ‘niggardly’. I believe he was subsequently reinstated.
Sometimes it’s other people’s fault. I hear from friends and co-workers that I’m trying to sound “white”. I always counter that I am not trying to sound like anything and I do not like the implication that non-white people do not use words like “implication”.
So I give people the impression that I’m being snooty. And I’m not even using 10 dollar words. What can you do?
This infuriates me no end, this bland supposition that vocabulary must be limited to an seventh grade level in order to communicate with the world at large.
Forget it. When I hear a word I don’t know, I reach for the dictionary. It’s a valuable skill and we should encourage amongst everyone.
Biggirl, while I can’t speak for all white people, I, for one, make it a point to never ever use the word ‘implicate’. I also never use ‘miffed’, ‘unintelligible’ or ‘quaint’. So, if you are trying to sound white (whatever that means :rolleyes you’re doing a very bad job of it
I, too, get chided not only for using “hard words” but also for using proper grammar. I can’t spell to save my life, so I am usually considered OK in that department. But, Johnny I agree with the rest, don’t dumb down just because your friends don’t understand every word you use - let them learn how to use a dictionary or pick up meanings from context.
you’re doing a very bad job of it 