Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fortuitously, I don't spend a copious amount of time with non-erudite people.

Seriously, is that the best you can do? Jk.

Lamentably, yes.

Anonymous wrote:Do the lawyer posters speak differently to fellow attorneys and judges than they do to the jury?

Lawyer posters rarely speak to juries. You are thinking of Ally McBeal. But, yes, if you are talking to someone who does not have legal training, you avoid references to specific code sections or legal terms of art (e.g. "prima facie"). That does not necessarily include 75 cent words but words that are really only used by courts and judges can be avoided.

Do the lawyer posters speak differently to fellow attorneys and judges than they do to the jury?

Anonymous wrote:I love words and will often use more nuanced ones because I like to communicate precisely. I don't do it to show off or put on airs.

I might use "famished", "sweltering", or "riveting" instead of "hungry", "hot", or "interesting".

It's a more gratifying way of expressing myself.

+1

I like to be precise when I communicate. When I use a 75 cent word, it is because I think it more precisely expresses my point. If I "dumb it down", it weakens the meaning and it is not a compliment to my listener.

I love language and the sound of interesting words and stretching my vocabulary. I don't strain to deliberately use difficult words but I don't see the problem with using a developed vocabulary.

-- English major, lawyer, avid reader

I love words and will often use more nuanced ones because I like to communicate precisely. I don't do it to show off or put on airs.

I might use "famished", "sweltering", or "riveting" instead of "hungry", "hot", or "interesting".

It's a more gratifying way of expressing myself.

Anonymous wrote:What do you think when a person uses unusual, complicated words when a much simpler way of saying the same thing is easily available?

Often it just shows that the listener is neither well read nor well educated.

As my grandmother used to say,

Be courteous, kind and forgiving,
Be gentle and peaceful each day,
Be warm and human and grateful,
And have a good thing to say.

Be thoughtful and trustful and childlike,
Be witty and happy and wise,
Be honest and love all your neighbors,
Be obsequious, purple, and clairvoyant.

Be pompous, obese, and eat cactus,
Be dull, and boring, and omnipresent,
Criticize things you don't know about,
Be oblong and have your knees removed.

Be tasteless, rude, and offensive,
Live in a swamp and be three dimensional,
Put a live chicken in your underwear,
Get all excited and go to a yawning festival.

Anonymous wrote:If some fat politician is blowing a lot of hot air, can't I just say "He's bloviating!" instead of saying "He's talking at length in an inflated way!"? Why would people judge me negatively for that? If I know the word, and it's the right word, why can't I use it?

Maybe "bloviate" is a 75-cent word, but it's still cheaper than using seven 25-cent words instead!

Of course, I guess if I'm being really frugal, I'll say "He's a gasbag!"

I don't think that bloviating is a 75 center. It's one of those words, and I know there's a word for it, that just sounds like it means what it means. Unlike, for example, "fulsome," "noisome," or "nonplussed," which seem like they mean something different (full/complete, annoying, and unperturbed, respectively; in fact they mean offensive, disgusting, and perplexed).

If some fat politician is blowing a lot of hot air, can't I just say "He's bloviating!" instead of saying "He's talking at length in an inflated way!"? Why would people judge me negatively for that? If I know the word, and it's the right word, why can't I use it?

Maybe "bloviate" is a 75-cent word, but it's still cheaper than using seven 25-cent words instead!

Of course, I guess if I'm being really frugal, I'll say "He's a gasbag!"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know... I have sort of a niggardly vocabulary, so I'm unlikely to do that.

you have to be careful with that one.

Yeah, you might receive an ass whooping for using that word in some circles.

Years ago, a city official felt he had to resign after using that word and it was misinterpreted by a colleague.

Someone should have anonymously left an open dictionary pointing to the definition using one of those sticky note things on the colleague's desk.

I've used the word "catholic" as a compliment, and realized too late it was interpreted as Catholic. It was so awkward and there was no digging out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know... I have sort of a niggardly vocabulary, so I'm unlikely to do that.

you have to be careful with that one.

Yeah, you might receive an ass whooping for using that word in some circles.

Years ago, a city official felt he had to resign after using that word and it was misinterpreted by a colleague.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your primary purpose in speaking to someone is to convey something that you would like them to understand, then you have to adjust your speech to their vocabulary level, otherwise it becomes impractical. If your primary purpose is to show off, then you can use whatever words you wish. Using one or two unusual words in a conversation can be fun and educational. But if the words are consistently going over the head of the other person, don't expect that person to want to talk to you very often.

I can live with that.

I gathered that. You sound like a very sesquipedalian individual.

See, now I'm crying. I do appreciate the effort.

Sometimes these folks are from a low-income background and I think they think that big words make them sound educated. And they don't have the confidence to use simple words because they're afraid people will judge them - which they might.

Growing up in a professional upper middle class home gives you the freedom to not use big words.