Have yo noticed that some people who want to sound smart use really big words when they don't even know what they mean?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
23 Answers
I have seen this, and ironically I see it a lot in illiterate people. I know I used to do this when I was a little kid, but I think most kids enjoyed using big words just for the fun of it. I learned very fast that you don’t sound very smart when someone hears you use a big word and then retort your comment with “Uh…that doesn’t even make sense.” Now when I see people (not kids) do this, I usually tell them the same thing and suggest they never use a word until they are certain of its meaning. I use the word “certain” because some of my friends (okay, one of them!) feels that if she knows the general area the word refers to, she can use it. This has led to many hilarious incidents!
Ahahaha. I met one of it closest friends because one of his friends was complaining about his use of the word tempestuous (sp?) because she didn’t know what it meant. I laughed and explained and she introduced us and began to use the word in all the wrong contexts.
End of story!
I mean to say that it happens and is annoying but there’s times when its Really endearing. It means that they’re trying to impress you.
Sorry about that being rambly. I’m on my phone and cold medicine.
One characteristic of the people you describe is that they are often ignorant of or defensive about their deficiency, which contributes to the phenomenon.
Its much more fun to just magnalficate my own words.
Sesquipedalian words make your vocabulary….gooder.
@ brownlemur – oo thanks! i learned my word for the day!
When I first set out to excogitate this question I became addlepated, however I soon became amenable to the illation of the validity.
Using big words & not making sense reminds me of a drunken game we used to play. We would time who could talk the longest without saying something that made sense. Once you said something that made sense, we’d call time. It went something like this: “Exactly, I wouldn’t say that, in spite of going towards and not setting the proper amount of not being able to say, I would not really tell you to not make sense of being sort of inside the part of when you don’t go ahead and not do the same of what you thought they were doing when I didn’t do what was…...
I’ve decided to take a pedagogical treatment of this quiry. I’ve found that the current initial state of a systematic question, such as this one that is put before me, is as specified to the exact abstract conclusion as when the subsequent response will be received completely without predictablity. I also feel that although it might seem like a contradiction in terms but a quorum such as the one before all of us, that is corporeal hominids, applies to the infinitesimally small gray matter found in a fluther of jellyfish. In is in conclusion thatI would wish to propose that you would never be satisfied in proceeding that we’ve endeavored in this avenue.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Lauren was one of my best orators when I was a voice coach for the Miss Teen USA Pageant. I don’t know what went so terribly wrong.
AstroChuck, beer is usually what is used during the game, but any other sort of liquor is also acceptable.
By the way, you hold the high score!
What is it that you’re drinking?
Absinthe. And Dr. Pepper.
@kevbo Miss South Carolina…..........man!! what are we teaching our youth? This is hilarious, look at this response
Whenever I think people are ‘padding’ their message with fancy-pants words, I just start a game of bullshit bingo in my head.
How to play?
Pick 12 popular big/buzz words and pretend you have a little card with 4 boxes across and 3 down and each box gets one word assigned. Then check them off as they’re used in the conversation you’re enduring and see how quickly you get Bullshit Bingo – although I wouldn’t advise shouting out Bingo if you’re in a business meeting (trust me on this one!)
Of course, there’s always Dubbaya, who not only uses large words incorrectly, he can’t get the little ones right, either.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
