My vocabulary is awfully small. Not that that is a particularly awful thing, it just so happens to be true. The part of my memory that retains words seems to be diminishing (along with other parts). I just can’t seem to remember new words or terminology, this in addition to my already tiny word selection set.
If you use a big word in a conversation with me, chances are that I won’t know it. Oh, I’ll ask you what it means if I feel I’m missing the gist of what you’re saying. But chances also are that I’ll forget the meaning of that word. If I’m conversing via instant messaging, I’ll probably just look up the word on dictionary.com. Sometimes, if I’m feeling really lazy, I’ll just ask (yes, even in IM). But again, this doesn’t mean that I’ll retain knowledge of that word for future use. Chances are that I’ll look it up again, and again.
I remember when I was younger, my mom gave me this book titled something like “1100 words you need to know”. I never was interested in getting through it. Knowing words for the sake of knowing words doesn’t sound like too much fun. Don’t get me wrong, I love word play and a play on words. Puns are fun. It was similar with typing speeds. Driving up your typing speed just for the sake of driving up your typing speed seems rather pointless. And I’d score poorly in any such typing tests. Not anymore though, now I type fairly fast. But my typing speed improved as a result of wanting to code faster (getting the idea out in code as fast as I think it) and wanting to respond to ICQ messages quick enough.
I don’t know if I have any such equivalent for learning new words. I seem to get along fine with the ones I already know. Most other words are probably just fancy ways of saying words already in my vocabulary, and if they’re not, then I could probably still convey the idea through a combination of words I already know. Fancy words are overrated. Why would you want to look up a thesaurus? Just so you could make other folk look up a dictionary? What’s so wrong with using the words you already know?
One of the nice side effects of a small vocabulary is that the things I say/write can naturally lend themselves to being simple. I simply avoid the complexity of complicated words. In the end, it’s probably an internal mechanism designed to keep me lazy.
Note: No words were looked up during the construction of this entry. Although, the spell check feature was used multiple times.
How do you make complex writing out of simple words? I have read jargon-ridden blogs with less meaning but your blog is complex with simple words.
“Fancy words are overrated.”
Hmm, is that like when ugly people say “Beauty is overrated”?
Oh, I’m kidding, of course.
🙂
So, I tend to use a lot of “big” words. But, I read a lot of literature that tend to use “big” words… And, after a while, using “literature” instead of “books” becomes more natural.
I don’t use big words intentionally, it’s just that certain words feel like a better fit.
It’s not necessarily all about being supercilious. I mean, pretentious. Er, haughty. Um, how about stuck up?
“What’s so wrong with using the words you already know?”
Nothing at all.
In addition, there is nothing more annoying than a person who purposely uses long words to come off as being an intellectual. Someone should punch him/her in the face.
Unless the person is naturally smart & can’t help it. In which case, maybe a punch is a little too harsh.
@Faiqa – yes, like when bald people say “hair is overrated.”
@Asmaa – yeah, for naturally smart people, we can just stick our tongues out.
The idea that your vocabulary is lacking is a difficult one to believe; your writing is fantastic.
@TheGoriWife – thank you so much, =).
It’s understandable that someone might begin to wonder if the problem isn’t big words, based on the sheer volume of misuse that one finds on the internet. However there’s no problem with big words, in and of themselves. The words you use will depend on your context and your goals. Every text is not written for every audience.
Taking a common example, big words come in handy when you have length limitations being imposed on you, let’s say while writing a short essay on epistemic relativism. Verbal economy and all that. It just wouldn’t fly if you had to say “the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity” instead of saying “epistemology” (NB: the preceding definition came from dictionary.com).
Just because something is more common than something else, that doesn’t make it somehow better. Quite often the opposite is true. Big — or perhaps uncommon — words help us conceptualize, specify, and organize in a way that common words often cannot, as with the word “epistemology.”
In any case, what’s the dividing line between small, medium, and big words? At what point do we say that a word is too large?
As Asmaa said, the true problem is arrogance, and any task undertaken without reflection is liable to be tainted by it.
@Risto – i agree. largely this was about my capacity to remember words that i don’t already know. now that i have read what epistemology means, it is very likely that i won’t remember what it means when it comes up again in another conversation.
At what point do we say that a word is too large?
more than four to five syllables. yes.
@Risto – i agree. largely this was about my capacity to remember words that i don’t already know. now that i have read what epistemology means, it is very likely that i won’t remember what it means when it comes up again in another conversation.
At what point do we say that a word is too large?
more than four to five syllables. yes.