Peripatetic- do you know what this word means?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly they aren't lovers of 70s musical theater.

I used "Peripatetic, poetic and chic" as three words to describe me at a summer theater camp one year and everyone know what it meant.

Chique

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wtf..who uses that word unless they are writing a book? Most normal people have never even heard of the word. Please come down from Mars and speak in terms that us common folk can relate to.

(not OP) I am very sorry that this has caused you distress. I would say "consternation," but, you know.

Can we be friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Peripatetic (when used correctly) is a clear and succinct word choice. There are other words I think people misuse vis a vis the true definition (“peruse” comes to mind - often people use it to mean “skim” when it pretty much means the opposite - misuse of peruse drives me crazy), but peripatetic is not one of those words.

But why choose to use a word that many people might misunderstand or misuse? If your intent is to get a specific message across to your recipient, don't use words that could be misunderstood or less known. The fact that you're claiming a word is so clear and succinct as a choice, that many posters have chimed in to say varying things about shows that it probably was not the best choice. My brilliant grandfather who had a phd always told me not to use the fifty cent word when the five cent word meant that my intentions were clear. He told me to save the fifty cent words for poetry, fiction, letters to friends and for fun, but that if my intent was to teach or persuade, use more of the five cent words.

Well, to be fair, this was a letter/email to a friend, so I guess your father would approve if the use of the word here.

It was an email to a relative, so the grandfather’s advice still holds!

See also: Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style

I would think a relative can also be a friend, and an email today serves the same purpose as a letter in past generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you just use normal language? No one cares that you know that word or is impressed by your vocabulary

That is normal language. I'm sorry you speak like a 3rd grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly they aren't lovers of 70s musical theater.

I used "Peripatetic, poetic and chic" as three words to describe me at a summer theater camp one year and everyone know what it meant.

Chique

fallacious

https://grammarist.com/spelling/chic-sheik/#:~:text=Despite%20chique%20popping%20up%20in,same%20trendy%20concept%20of%20chic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know what it means but using it makes you sound conceited. You could have just said, I moved a lot and tried different a lot of different things.

You could just say she sounds stuck up. You could have told her to say she did stuff.

Why so wordy, PP? Are you stuck up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know what it means but using it makes you sound conceited. You could have just said, I moved a lot and tried different a lot of different things.

You could just say she sounds stuck up. You could have told her to say she did stuff.

Why so wordy, PP? Are you stuck up?

Blow me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Just a job where every promotion required a move to new location.

Imagine how using these very clear words would have gotten your point across so much better.

The person I was writing to knew the details of my moves and the reasons for them at the time they all occurred. So I was just making a shorthand reference to my life at that time. That’s part of the reason I thought it odd that this person gave such a different spin to my feelings about that time.

This person probably didn't know what the word meant, or he read it quickly as "pathetic." Or both.

It doesn't matter the reason. You felt misunderstood, and several pps made good suggestions as to how to rectify it.

I use obscure words when writing work papers where I need to change things up from time to time. If you routinely use uncommon words in emails to family members I'd think you're a pedantic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know what it means but using it makes you sound conceited. You could have just said, I moved a lot and tried different a lot of different things.

You could just say she sounds stuck up. You could have told her to say she did stuff.

Why so wordy, PP? Are you stuck up?

Blow me

Well, now we’re really showing off our education, aren’t we ?

[Anonymous]

It’s fairly obscure. Know your audience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know what peripatetic means, but if I didn't, I would look it up. I like learning new words. It's no big deal.

Someone offered a graceful response upthread if you feel like responding.

As I was reading the responses I was waiting for this one as this is the most logical. When I come across a word I don't know, I look it up.

I also was unfamiliar with word and couldn’t even pronounce it. Thankfully google will give the pronunciation as well the meaning.

[Anonymous]

I’m a writer with a graduate degree in English and a JD. I use a thesaurus for work most days. I would not have used peripatetic in an email. It sounds pretentious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Peripatetic (when used correctly) is a clear and succinct word choice. There are other words I think people misuse vis a vis the true definition (“peruse” comes to mind - often people use it to mean “skim” when it pretty much means the opposite - misuse of peruse drives me crazy), but peripatetic is not one of those words.

But why choose to use a word that many people might misunderstand or misuse? If your intent is to get a specific message across to your recipient, don't use words that could be misunderstood or less known. The fact that you're claiming a word is so clear and succinct as a choice, that many posters have chimed in to say varying things about shows that it probably was not the best choice. My brilliant grandfather who had a phd always told me not to use the fifty cent word when the five cent word meant that my intentions were clear. He told me to save the fifty cent words for poetry, fiction, letters to friends and for fun, but that if my intent was to teach or persuade, use more of the five cent words.

My point (which I guess was less than clear) was that peripatetic is NOT a misused word - it is a crisp word, perfect for when one means to use it. So I think it was an excellent word for OP to use in context (I thought her original question was whether she should have chosen a different word).

But to your point, “peruse” is an often misused and misunderstood word, but if you felt the situation called for it, wouldn’t you still use it?

[Anonymous]

Lot of people have shitty reading comprehension and cannot follow more than a couple of sentences. That's just how it is, in the future chatbot will understand you though and translate it for the peasants.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know what it means. I wouldn't use it in regular conversation/email, because it's obscure and in that context sounds pretentious.

19:46 on the first page has good language for how to correct the misunderstanding without sounding like a know-it-all. I still remember a guy I'd just met correcting my pronunciation of "vise," 20+ years later. That interaction was the first indication of what an incredible tool he was.