Monday, May 13, 2013

Tasteful Word-Dropping.

I've always been a sucker for new vocabulary.  New words thrill me like Nerf guns thrill little boys.  However, something turns me off about excessively showy language.  That's something I've noticed while reading all of this literary criticism, and reviews of books by some of the big names.
It's not that I get lost (disoriented) in a world of ignorance (vacuousness), but I prefer to focus on the substance of the review, rather than the decoration (frippery).

On the other hand, Dr. Johnson O'Connor, of the self-named research foundation, said this:

 Why do large vocabularies characterize executives and possibly outstanding men and women in other fields? The final answer seems to be that words are the instruments by means of which men and women grasp the thoughts of others and with which they do much of their own thinking. They are the “tools of thought.

And I agree with him.  This is where my dilemma is born.  Words are often our channels of communication, and the more refined those channels are, the better understood we become.  Should you speak to be understood, or admired

 Perhaps in using larger words, the educated folk force the rest of us to learn a word or two. That's great, but I think the man who can use those newly acquired words tastefully,and in the proper situations, is that much more admirable. 


http://dynamo.dictionary.com/placement/level

6 comments:

  1. You've used some really fun and cool words. It is satisfying to be able to use just the right word for what you are trying to communicate. Great thoughts and great post!

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  2. Oooh I like it! And the game is fun :) I definitely need to work on expanding my vocabulary

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  3. Nicely said. My friend and I learned some words from Shakespeare's time and always enjoyed using them when speaking to each other.

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  4. In answer to your question of whether we should speak to be understood or admired is dependent on the person. If the world were a perfect place, we would speak to be understood, but the desire to be admired is in our nature, so it comes out in everything that we do.

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    1. Yeah. You're right. It's just...when people are too showy with their language, I get put off by how pompous they sound. It's like when guys fold their arms and check out their own muscles. No one else is checking them out. They're doing it for their own satisfaction.

      If that makes sense.

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