it is when it's used with the other long word 'irrigation'..


I never knew you could water a field using yer butt.

Ive always considered his writing to be rather hackney and crude.
Decent stories, but its hardly literature.

Myself, I love language.
I love different languages, different words, different ways of saying things.
Ill often use an archaic or uncommon word if Ive read it somewhere and like the sound of it.
Nothing 'pretentious' about it, I just like toying with language. Ill always make sure to look up a word if Im unsure of its meaning.

Im opposed to the modern aversion of intellectualism. I think its a very sad trend indeed if you have to dumb your language down because otherwise people will berate you for it.
I enjoy the constructs of the mind humans have crafted and I enjoy using the words and concepts that express them.

Am I an intellectual? Yes.
Am I trying to be smart? Yes.
If youre not trying to be smart you are content being stupid.

I'm naturally smart.

Thanks for resolving this issue that myself and an other had been debating for awhile now.. btw, I was rootin' for ya, buddy

I knew you had a solid strategy

I'm a smart ass.


Which officially makes one part of me -not dumb!

I thought I was being specific about it otherwise using a bum tube to water your bum might cause a misunderstanding.

I think that's the root of the problem: using a "big" word when a "small" word will fit just fine is more likely to hinder than help the conversation. Then again, it can be very revealing. I have a dear friend of the sort who refers to (musical) records as "documents", and there was a conversation about cartoons and he said that he wasn't a "student" of cartoons so he didn't really know anything about the one in discussion. In saying that, it demonstrated that he didn't just slump on the sofa and laugh his ass off along with the rest of us but would have been taking it terribly seriously, and hence the whole idea of being simply entertained by it would have sailed right over his head.


Though clearly not enough to avoid misusing the word "myself"


And, evidently, equally opposed to the use of apostrophes. (Shall I stop teasing you now?)


I think the counter-argument to that is demonstrated in my reply here: you are using language to show off, which puts any mistakes you make under a scrutiny they wouldn't otherwise invite. You therefore run the risk of falling victim to good-humoured teasing when your grasp of the language isn't quite as strong as you assumed it to be.

That's why people call each other "pretentious" - because those who are very self-conscious about their intellectual abilities are almost never quite as smart as they think they are. Of course, extremely clever people do use a wide vocabulary, but it's not something they're self-conscious about, and if they can use a simple sentence to convey the same meaning, they will. The best way of using a language is to use the most apt expression to be clearly understood. Having a wider vocabularly facilitates that, but if you abuse those extra resources by using them when they are not needed, it can backfire.

I still love that line from The Simpsons:

"Oooh, a garage."
"Well, what do you call it?"
"Car-hole."

I never try to show off, its pointless. But I do love language and I love words.
I also like learning. Why is it wrong to use 'myself' in that sentence?

Apostrophes, yes, they are a victim of hasty typing Im afraid.

Im not English, but it is one of my favorite languages cause its so wide and deep, there are such a lot of words and such a lot of ways to say things, I believe it has about ten times the number of words as the French language.

Im also forever making up my own words and ways of saying things and that often leads to people telling me I use things wrongly.
My reply then is that Im being idiosyncratic and to point out that language is fluid and forever changing.
Or, as a famous writer from my nation once remarked: "It exists, because I use it".

I suppose it's really just superfluous rather than wrong - there just wasn't any need for "myself" to be in that sentence. It's probably the most abused word in the English language. The annoying thing that so many people do is to use phrases like "bring it to Susan or myself" (when it should be "bring it to Susan or me"). If you're in any doubt, remove the middle part of the sentence: "bring it to myself" would be wrong; "bring it to me" is correct. Equally, people use "I" when they should use "me" and vice versa. "Me and Susan are going to the shops" doesn't work because "me is going to the shops" is wrong.

Today's grammar lesson has been brought to you by the letters P and Z and the number 4.

Thanks

I actually use big words and obscure words just because that is how I roll. I don't need to validate my intelligence. I just like to use more advanced words and obscure words. I've always used big words. Even as a kid I had a bigger vocabulary than a lot of people my age.

I tend to use "big" words in everyday conversations just because I find them more expressive and appropriate than common jargon.

Hmmm...well i have found that the more I use 'big words' around my friends the more their vocabulary expands. They have even commented on it and thanked me for it. So this might be a case of someone just taking it the wrong way. I also do not usually come off as pretentious so I think that helps. I feel if more people were expressive about their intelligence it would help foster more intelligent people. I was from a high school where dumb means cool and smart means 'lulz nerd!'

This quote is apt I think. Though a bit excessive for this topic.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of the human endeavor. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of the human spirit that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I editted a few things to my personal taste but the overall message is the same.

The tone used when saying a "big" word is what makes a difference. I use them daily, but it's just how I speak. I was the person to go to for figuring out what a word meant if the people asking weren't sitting near the person who won spelling bees. No one ever asks me to help them out with homework, though. That is mainly because I don't give away answers. I also am a shy, quiet person in real life, so people know I don't wanna be bothered even if I will help out.

I use big words around everyone. People don't care, which is good. I say them as if they were just everyday words, though. I learned many words from video games and still am. I watched cartoons all the time as a kid and anime often had bigger words. Even my friends don't mind.

Albino Dunmer, warm greetings to you.

I thoroughly enjoyed your quote. May I learn its source?

I have been chastised before (or mocked, depending on the mood at the time) for using a technical term when a simpler, broader term would suffice. I can't help myself, though... When I know a term (and how to use it correctly in context), I'll generally prefer it over the more general ones. It's almost a catch-22... One way, I risk being misunderstood due to complexity, and the other, I risk being misunderstood due to vagueness.

Oh well. I yam what I sweet potato.

Hello Mr. E!

To be pretentious means to attempt to convey qualities you do not possess. If one's vocabulary has outgrown the realm of disyllabic words and on occasion it aptly describes what you're trying to say what would be pretentious about using it? If one fails to use it just for fear of being perceived as a pretentious person, isn't that equally questionable? Language is both content and form, all at the same time. I love form. All of them. I like "ain't" just as much as "palindrome", whose phonetics is beautiful while its meaning has eluded me up until two minutes ago when I googled it, "punk" and "ubiquity", "nifty" and "snobbery". Yup, I find street-blang just as beautiful as Phenomenological Aesthetics jargon. I like it all and am all unapologetic about it.

Oh, for sure. I'm under no impression that using big words correctly is pretentiousness - it is in some instances, but then the intent tends to be nefarious. Using "basic" words correctly can be just as challenging, and just as intelligent.

I like this post, yes, thats exactly it
A common word can be as beautiful and interesting as an obscure one.
I like the southern American way of saying "y'all", it has a nice ring to it.
I also really like the Australian expression "no worries", I prefer it over "no problem" because its just that much more.. soothing.

i wish i could use big words . but i cant .-.

I only know small words *looks at location*

JAHO

Marrianne Williamson- http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson#section_3

The original is a little bit different from the one i posted. If you are looking for the source of that one it is me lol. Her's is more umm...religious.

Idk if it is just Australian. It is used here in Hawai'i quite a bit. I believe it is tied in with raggae as well. "Ain't no worries, 'bout a thing!"

We say it in the exact context you used though as well.

Yeah everytime they say 'lupus' in a movie I say 'no [censored] lupus again?'