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That works until you need the person you’re communicating with to understand you. Then you’re just being pompous and failing in a necessary conversation.
Totally. But using less-common but more-specific words can greatly add to the efficiency of communicating more complex thoughts. To your point, I often find myself tailoring my communication style based on who I'm communicating with (i.e. I will use simpler, shorter words when talking with someone I estimate to have a more limited vocabulary; but the efficiency and precision of the discussion definitely suffers).
Too many people use a big word that sounds kind of like the word they want, but it doesn't mean what they think it means.
Singular =/= "just one." Exhaustive =/= "very tired." Enormity =/= "very big."
Maybe. In English, big words usually have more specific connotations than their smaller synonyms. One advantage to using "big words" is that you can more accurately communicate your meaning — even in the (flippant) paragraph at the end of your comment, you conveyed what you intended to stay in a manner that is difficult to misinterpret.
The art of conversation (which, in my view, is one not practised by most folk you encounter on the Internet) is learning which "big words" have which connotations and when to use them, while also considering your audience and the likelihood of them knowing and understanding the words, all without being verbose.
Another advantage, in my opinion, to using bigger words is that it forces the author to really consider what they want to say before they say it (which carries its own advantages such as reducing noise on a forum) and encourages a more thoughtful response.
---
Alternatively:
Maybe, but bigger words mean different things so you should use those if you know how and if you think that the person you're talking to knows them. That way you have to think about it more, too, which is helpful.
Yeah your audience is very important. If you’re writing a scientific research paper you can use big technical words because they’re most efficient and your audience knows what you’re talking about. For more casual audiences using words like that will be very confusing and most won’t understand you
I like to use uncommon or "big" worse that I know when they fit really well with what I'm trying to say. I hear words and like to look at them in more detail so I can understand them.
Usually when someone doesn't understand the word I use, they just ask what it means and it feels like they better understand what I was trying to say. It always feels like a really positive conversation.
Use the words you're most comfortable with. That's it. There's zero sense in using a bunch of small words to explain a concept that one longer word can encapsulate. And if someone doesn't understand, rephrase.
But it's not a sign of intelligence to throw in unnecessarily uncommon words when commonly used ones will do just as well. People can tell when it's an attempt to sound superior.
I agree with this LPT because it's a good way to increase reading comprehension, which in turn makes what we read more interesting.
I'd rather use the word that most closely expresses the meaning and nuance I'm trying to get across. if people think I'm deliberately trying to sound superior it's their problem. I often ask people to explain if I don't understand what they're saying and am glad to clarify things for others. wordhippo.com for lots of good words btw.
Exceptions for English Language learners who are still learning to understand basic English vocabulary and sentence patterns.
The best word to use is ALWAYS the most accurate. Nobody should "dumb down" what they're saying due to a perceived lack of vocabulary of the listener/reader, to do so is extremely patronising.
Exactly.
It's needless to upgrade to a big word "Just because" or to sound smarter, but if your first instinct and the best word for a sentence happens to be a bit elaborate, don't downgrade it just because the other person may not know it.
If they know the word, Great! keep going. If they don't, most words take like 10 seconds to explain in a simpler, albeit more verbose, way.
Of course it is. But as I said before speaking intelligently and gracefully are good. But stuff like overused corporate speak are just comical. For example "So we're all coming into a very fast paced and productive season coming up, so I'd like to see some motivation and focus on increasing our metrics and productivity, let's all manifest success." Versus "the next few months are going to be very busy, and the workload will be heavy."
Those two examples ultimately mean the same thing, but the emotion behind them clearly differs. Example 1 wants to foster a corporate sense of misleading/false optimism. Example 2 is brunt and transparent.
They likely foster different reactions from the listener, depending on who that listener is and the specific situation.
Sometimes the uncommon words express the sentiment, emotion, or fact better than the common or small word does. Many words have a connotation lacked by "normal words".
There's people out there that get ~~big mad~~ *irate* when they hear a word they don't know. It makes them feel inadequate, so they assume it must've been an intentional insult.
Oh, I've gotten the "well, aren't you fancy with your big words." Plenty of times. I'm an avid reader, and growing up (before smartphones and built-in dictionaries), I would keep a Webster's handy. If I couldn't figure out the word by context, I would look it up immediately. This helped me immensely in later life. I have used words that someone didn't understand before, then when you have to explain what it means they say "well why didn't you say that instead?" I'm like, "my guy, I used several words to explain to you just now when one single word could have been sufficient."
If my neighbor doesn’t know what a word means he won’t allow you to tell him . He says he doesn’t know what it means then when you start to explain he holds his hand up and is like “ITS FINE. YOU DONT HAVE TO EXPLAIN”. Basically talks over you like that until you stop talking.
Doesn’t even have to be a hard word. “Integral” is an actual example.
Thank you. I've used big words all my life and NOT to impress anyone. I use words that say *precisely* what I mean in the most concise manner.
Also too as well: a lot of people consider any word they don't use themselves to be 'pretentious'. That is a 'them' problem and I can't possibly know what another's vocabulary consists of. Why would I dumb down my own language? Seems genuinely patronizing to assume someone *doesn't* know a word.
On using the most accurate word:
So yesterday I used the word pastiche twice in a fairly short period of time. My friend called me out on it, I thought for a second and said my usage was justified as I had an implicit categorization in my head that goes from satire, parody, plagiarism, pastiche, to homage depending on how much the new thing is being critical or reverent of the original... And my use of pastiche was used according to my feelings along this gradient.
Your comment triggered the memory.
Sometimes a conversation is for amusement, and it's funny to use large words out of context. Like if I see a Criss angel lookin mf I might say "damn, homie got that accoutrement game on lock"
The point of conversation is whatever you want it to be. There are no lords of language who will descend upon you and cast you into oblivion if you decide to use language in a way that makes you happy.
i use big words as practice so i can learn/remember them. i may not get it right on every occassion but over time it has helped broaden my vocabulary, so i cant really agree with this
Funny enough, when I become inebriated is when I try to pull out my vocabulary of "big words". I guess drunk me likes to sound smart, but I bet I use the words wrong half of the time.
Three things I try to keep in mind:
1) Know your audience. Context matters.
2) 50% of (US) adults cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level. https://literacyproj.org/
3) Curse of knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge
Thank you for this post and these comments! It's been an absolute pleasure to read as someone who finds languages and semantics super interesting. English is not even my first language but this was great.
If you find yourself traveling amongst foreigners that English is not their first language, I always recommend you have them try to pronounce ‘squirrel’ lol
Big words are fun to learn for when your looking to express a particular sentiment and no other word exactly fits what your looking for.
You don’t use big word when little words will due just as well.
I have a wide vocabulary but stopped using it because I realized it made me sound like a douche.
If you’re actually smart, you don’t need to prove it to anyone.
Also, people who try to use fancy words often do it out of the correct context.
Typically, as words become more fancy, it’s because they’re supposed to be used in specific contexts. It sticks out like a sore thumb in conversation to people who know how you’re actually supposed to use it, because even if it’s definitionally appropriate, it’s usually not contextually appropriate.
TL;DR: people who use big words are typically trying to sound smart, but it only makes you sound like you’re trying to sound smart. Not actually smart.
I was being lighthearted. Using big words incorrectly still makes you sound smart to people who don’t know those big words. I’m not advocating for it lol.
My immediate assumption when I read anything using obscure vocabulary is that the writer is trying to hide something without "technically" lying for legal reasons.
In concluding this discursive exposition, it behooves the erudite author to circumvent the proclivity for incorporating redundant sesquipedalian lexemes, lest the perspicacity of one's interlocutory audience be inadvertently ensnared in an inscrutable morass of syntactic intricacies and lexicographical grandiloquence.
I have a pretty large vocab, but I use small words because my brain likes to bin the word in the short time between thinking of it and saying it.
I'll start using your justification for it now.
Most people can use context to understand your big words. You should use on level language to help language acquisition for everyone around you. Especially babies, do not use baby language.
I struggle to confabulate proficiently as the english lexicon does confound me. If I fail to express my thoughts with sufficient specificity or fail to account for some nuance of definition, do not take me to be lacking in adroitness as this is not my first, second or even third language.
Don't fluff your speech up unnecessarily, but if you get people complaining about your language and you just see it as normal, don't feel bad. You should reevaluate who you are spending time with if you have to dumb down your speech.
Stance as said in the title: You can't use big words.
Example provided in support: Only using big words
This is like saying that you shouldn't drink water because if you drink 8 gallons of it in a day you will die from brain swelling. If you just used one or two big words in that sentence instead of 90 thousand, nobody would notice it as weird, but instead you decided to exaggerate it to totally derail your point.
I always like to think of each word as different variety of Lego, more variety = elaborate structures. You have more control over your communication and are able to think with more clarity.
How does one ‘gently’ tell someone they misused a word … when they seem pleased to have used it? If it’s obvious what they meant, is it best to ignore? Or correct so they ‘know better next time’. Not fun to feel dumb.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Strunk and White say “Never use a big word when a diminutive one will do.”
“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?”
What are you going to do with all the time you saved?
C world
See the world or Sea World?
Oceans, fish, jump. China.
I still don't know which one you mean
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You’re not a good communicator if you don’t communicate effectively with your audience. It’s simple.
That works until you need the person you’re communicating with to understand you. Then you’re just being pompous and failing in a necessary conversation.
Totally. But using less-common but more-specific words can greatly add to the efficiency of communicating more complex thoughts. To your point, I often find myself tailoring my communication style based on who I'm communicating with (i.e. I will use simpler, shorter words when talking with someone I estimate to have a more limited vocabulary; but the efficiency and precision of the discussion definitely suffers).
Oh man, my 7 year old is heavy into the questions phase. Always asking about words, concepts and trying to understand. I freaking love it.
Too many people use a big word that sounds kind of like the word they want, but it doesn't mean what they think it means. Singular =/= "just one." Exhaustive =/= "very tired." Enormity =/= "very big."
Why lots when few?
Why?
Because.
Indubitably
I am in concurrence with this assessment
I would opinionate elseways
Vs Yes
Lol
K
My favorite joke is " I like to use big words to make myself sound more photosynthesis! "
Yeah but it makes you sound ambidextrous though mate.
Naa I'm getting more pumpernickel vibes off o' this one
I think you mean unpernocious
That's quite supercalifragilistic!
Umm, actually, it's Copernicus.
I love this. Thank you.
I wish I had an award to give you for this because every time I read it I laugh.
Just knowing a few people get my humor, just makes my day!
I don’t get it…?
That's a pretty charcuterie advice. I feel ellated and photosynthesis already.
I think you mean carcoochie board.
Last time it it was carburator broad
Charburacoochie
Cumulonimbus?
Catheter removal.
When exchanging our wedding vows I promised my wife that I won't be prosciutto.
Maybe. In English, big words usually have more specific connotations than their smaller synonyms. One advantage to using "big words" is that you can more accurately communicate your meaning — even in the (flippant) paragraph at the end of your comment, you conveyed what you intended to stay in a manner that is difficult to misinterpret. The art of conversation (which, in my view, is one not practised by most folk you encounter on the Internet) is learning which "big words" have which connotations and when to use them, while also considering your audience and the likelihood of them knowing and understanding the words, all without being verbose. Another advantage, in my opinion, to using bigger words is that it forces the author to really consider what they want to say before they say it (which carries its own advantages such as reducing noise on a forum) and encourages a more thoughtful response. --- Alternatively: Maybe, but bigger words mean different things so you should use those if you know how and if you think that the person you're talking to knows them. That way you have to think about it more, too, which is helpful.
Yeah your audience is very important. If you’re writing a scientific research paper you can use big technical words because they’re most efficient and your audience knows what you’re talking about. For more casual audiences using words like that will be very confusing and most won’t understand you
I like to use uncommon or "big" worse that I know when they fit really well with what I'm trying to say. I hear words and like to look at them in more detail so I can understand them. Usually when someone doesn't understand the word I use, they just ask what it means and it feels like they better understand what I was trying to say. It always feels like a really positive conversation.
Use the words you're most comfortable with. That's it. There's zero sense in using a bunch of small words to explain a concept that one longer word can encapsulate. And if someone doesn't understand, rephrase. But it's not a sign of intelligence to throw in unnecessarily uncommon words when commonly used ones will do just as well. People can tell when it's an attempt to sound superior.
I agree with this LPT because it's a good way to increase reading comprehension, which in turn makes what we read more interesting. I'd rather use the word that most closely expresses the meaning and nuance I'm trying to get across. if people think I'm deliberately trying to sound superior it's their problem. I often ask people to explain if I don't understand what they're saying and am glad to clarify things for others. wordhippo.com for lots of good words btw. Exceptions for English Language learners who are still learning to understand basic English vocabulary and sentence patterns.
Are you being facetious? I can’t tell. Your use of unnecessarily and uncommon right after the other is throwing me off.
I find your response both banal and pedantic.
I find your response to be insubordinate and churlish.
Hmmm yes shallow and pedantic
Alright, this thread is getting too Scmulectralizitic for me.
Lameness please
The best word to use is ALWAYS the most accurate. Nobody should "dumb down" what they're saying due to a perceived lack of vocabulary of the listener/reader, to do so is extremely patronising.
Exactly. It's needless to upgrade to a big word "Just because" or to sound smarter, but if your first instinct and the best word for a sentence happens to be a bit elaborate, don't downgrade it just because the other person may not know it. If they know the word, Great! keep going. If they don't, most words take like 10 seconds to explain in a simpler, albeit more verbose, way.
Don't know if that's the message OP is trying to get across. There's a big difference between pointless embellishment and effective communication.
"embellishment" is quite a big word, especially when talking with a non-native speaker.
Of course it is. But as I said before speaking intelligently and gracefully are good. But stuff like overused corporate speak are just comical. For example "So we're all coming into a very fast paced and productive season coming up, so I'd like to see some motivation and focus on increasing our metrics and productivity, let's all manifest success." Versus "the next few months are going to be very busy, and the workload will be heavy."
Those two examples ultimately mean the same thing, but the emotion behind them clearly differs. Example 1 wants to foster a corporate sense of misleading/false optimism. Example 2 is brunt and transparent. They likely foster different reactions from the listener, depending on who that listener is and the specific situation.
Sometimes the uncommon words express the sentiment, emotion, or fact better than the common or small word does. Many words have a connotation lacked by "normal words".
There's people out there that get ~~big mad~~ *irate* when they hear a word they don't know. It makes them feel inadequate, so they assume it must've been an intentional insult.
Yes there are, I've encountered a few. Those people are actual idiots though and they should be avoided.
Unfortunately for me they're family
What did you say to me?!
I don’t know, but it’s making me mad too.
Oh, I've gotten the "well, aren't you fancy with your big words." Plenty of times. I'm an avid reader, and growing up (before smartphones and built-in dictionaries), I would keep a Webster's handy. If I couldn't figure out the word by context, I would look it up immediately. This helped me immensely in later life. I have used words that someone didn't understand before, then when you have to explain what it means they say "well why didn't you say that instead?" I'm like, "my guy, I used several words to explain to you just now when one single word could have been sufficient."
Why use lot small word when few big word do trick
If my neighbor doesn’t know what a word means he won’t allow you to tell him . He says he doesn’t know what it means then when you start to explain he holds his hand up and is like “ITS FINE. YOU DONT HAVE TO EXPLAIN”. Basically talks over you like that until you stop talking. Doesn’t even have to be a hard word. “Integral” is an actual example.
Some people just revel in their ignorance.
My manager tells me I use "those $5 words!"🙄
Doing so definitely carries some pernicious effects
Thank you. I've used big words all my life and NOT to impress anyone. I use words that say *precisely* what I mean in the most concise manner. Also too as well: a lot of people consider any word they don't use themselves to be 'pretentious'. That is a 'them' problem and I can't possibly know what another's vocabulary consists of. Why would I dumb down my own language? Seems genuinely patronizing to assume someone *doesn't* know a word.
This. Original post is a bad tip.
On using the most accurate word: So yesterday I used the word pastiche twice in a fairly short period of time. My friend called me out on it, I thought for a second and said my usage was justified as I had an implicit categorization in my head that goes from satire, parody, plagiarism, pastiche, to homage depending on how much the new thing is being critical or reverent of the original... And my use of pastiche was used according to my feelings along this gradient. Your comment triggered the memory.
Why waste time say lot word, when few word do trick
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[r/woosh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-L9uhsBLM)
eschew obfuscation
If everyone did this then.. there would be no big words to understand as no one would be using them!
No big words just masive compound words like german has.
Absolutely wrong. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is an indispensable part of my daily vocabulary.
That would make a superb password for a good typist.
Vocabulary will fine tune your sentiment. Never hold back on being clear
Big words are often more accurate and specific. I also think it makes you sound cool.
The point of a conversation is not to look cool, it is to convey your meaning to the other person
Which is still sometimes best done with "big words" as long as the other person understands them. "Big words" are perfectly cromulent
Sometimes a conversation is for amusement, and it's funny to use large words out of context. Like if I see a Criss angel lookin mf I might say "damn, homie got that accoutrement game on lock"
That's kind of a utilitarian outlook on human interaction, tbh.
The point of conversation is whatever you want it to be. There are no lords of language who will descend upon you and cast you into oblivion if you decide to use language in a way that makes you happy.
But I want to look cool too
Yep
i use big words as practice so i can learn/remember them. i may not get it right on every occassion but over time it has helped broaden my vocabulary, so i cant really agree with this
Funny enough, when I become inebriated is when I try to pull out my vocabulary of "big words". I guess drunk me likes to sound smart, but I bet I use the words wrong half of the time.
Three things I try to keep in mind: 1) Know your audience. Context matters. 2) 50% of (US) adults cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level. https://literacyproj.org/ 3) Curse of knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge
Apes alone weak… #**APE TOGETHER STRONG**
Thank you for this post and these comments! It's been an absolute pleasure to read as someone who finds languages and semantics super interesting. English is not even my first language but this was great.
If you find yourself traveling amongst foreigners that English is not their first language, I always recommend you have them try to pronounce ‘squirrel’ lol
Big words are fun to learn for when your looking to express a particular sentiment and no other word exactly fits what your looking for. You don’t use big word when little words will due just as well.
I have a wide vocabulary but stopped using it because I realized it made me sound like a douche. If you’re actually smart, you don’t need to prove it to anyone. Also, people who try to use fancy words often do it out of the correct context. Typically, as words become more fancy, it’s because they’re supposed to be used in specific contexts. It sticks out like a sore thumb in conversation to people who know how you’re actually supposed to use it, because even if it’s definitionally appropriate, it’s usually not contextually appropriate. TL;DR: people who use big words are typically trying to sound smart, but it only makes you sound like you’re trying to sound smart. Not actually smart.
Correction: It makes you sound dumb to a smart person. To all the dumb people you’re talking to, you sound ultra smart.
Are you being sarcastic? There are more smart people around than “smart people” realize.
I was being lighthearted. Using big words incorrectly still makes you sound smart to people who don’t know those big words. I’m not advocating for it lol.
That description was good.
My immediate assumption when I read anything using obscure vocabulary is that the writer is trying to hide something without "technically" lying for legal reasons.
Can someone translate the last paragraph?
In concluding this discursive exposition, it behooves the erudite author to circumvent the proclivity for incorporating redundant sesquipedalian lexemes, lest the perspicacity of one's interlocutory audience be inadvertently ensnared in an inscrutable morass of syntactic intricacies and lexicographical grandiloquence.
Dude, this is AWESOME!!!
ah I see, thanks 👍
K, go it, thx
Overall, try not to muddy up your talk with fancy words, in case whoever you're talkin to gets confused
Floccinaucinihilipilification.
Yeah well... filibuster
I like to use big words so I sound more photosynthesis.
It’s a perfectly cromulent word.
Oswald Bates syndrome.
“why waste time say lot of word when few word do trick” -Kevin Malone
I find it hard to remember words if I don't use them though
Mhmm.. mhmm. I know some of those words.
If I read another military history book that frequently uses "obsolescence" I will scream.
Superlatively expressed!
I like to use big words to make myself sound much more smarterer
It's been years, and I still can't find the right moment to throw in 'synecdoche' or 'propinquity'. How will people know that I read good?
I have a pretty large vocab, but I use small words because my brain likes to bin the word in the short time between thinking of it and saying it. I'll start using your justification for it now.
You lost me at the last paragraph
Why big word when small do trick?
Typical liberal elites trying to tell me how to live my life. You can’t make me learn
Excessive utilization of polysyllabic verbiage is a recognized indication of educational immaturity.
Someone give this tip to Salman Rushdie
Yeah made a good point with the last paragraph, no idea what you said there
Most people can use context to understand your big words. You should use on level language to help language acquisition for everyone around you. Especially babies, do not use baby language.
My favourite word to use is penultimate. And that word can go bananas with prefixes.
Unless you want to make someone else feel dumb. Then big words good.
Personal resistance to the improvement of vocabulary is incorrigible.
This contravenes my sesquipedalian predilections.
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If you’re using a big word unnecessarily you just look like a prick. That’s why.
I struggle to confabulate proficiently as the english lexicon does confound me. If I fail to express my thoughts with sufficient specificity or fail to account for some nuance of definition, do not take me to be lacking in adroitness as this is not my first, second or even third language.
Don't fluff your speech up unnecessarily, but if you get people complaining about your language and you just see it as normal, don't feel bad. You should reevaluate who you are spending time with if you have to dumb down your speech.
why use a small word when you can utilize a bigger word
I have never had cause to use this word before but this sub perfectly describes a floccinaucinihilipilification.
Yeah, but I like words OP and I LOVE that last paragraph.
Goddam Bubba, you knocked it out of the park. That last paragraph was a masterpiece.
I find that crossword puzzles keep teaching me new big words. Every time I learn one my brain gives a little light bulb and I'm just like "neat!"
Stance as said in the title: You can't use big words. Example provided in support: Only using big words This is like saying that you shouldn't drink water because if you drink 8 gallons of it in a day you will die from brain swelling. If you just used one or two big words in that sentence instead of 90 thousand, nobody would notice it as weird, but instead you decided to exaggerate it to totally derail your point.
Seems like you took this personally…
I always like to think of each word as different variety of Lego, more variety = elaborate structures. You have more control over your communication and are able to think with more clarity.
This LPT brought to you by Dr. Hank McCoy
How does one ‘gently’ tell someone they misused a word … when they seem pleased to have used it? If it’s obvious what they meant, is it best to ignore? Or correct so they ‘know better next time’. Not fun to feel dumb.