In just under a week, the country of Great (:japanese_goblin: :robot_face: :zipper_mouth_face: :skull_and_crossbones: ?!) Britain will have a new Prime Minister -- and one of the most notable things about Mr Bozjonglez is his large vocabulary. So confident is he in using words he thinks no one else knows, he can say the most outrageous things and get away with it ('piccaninny' = cliche black man).
But is it cool or uncool to have a mouth full of words, and endless synonyms, and the ability to juxtapose weirdo verbs and nouns to make everything striking and poetic?
I'm very, very conflicted, and I just don't know. Part of me says it's cool: I always enjoy reading articles by Will Self and Slavoj Zizek and the like --- and also, at work, it's a neat little tool: if you're explaining summit to sum1, and they're not the most confident person, I find you can BOOST their self-belief by using more complex language -- it's reverse psychology, it's a sign of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
But at the same time, maybe it's a bit peacocky? A bit show-offy?
Eh?
Friendly neighborhood gobshyne.
@Indrid-Cold It's cool enough if you know how to use it, correctly and respectfully. It's not cool if you just use it to bamboozle and filibust 😉
I think wankshafts like BJ have a misplaced sense of being better than other folk purely because they can spout shit, yet how many times has an intelligent interview caught him out?
There have been times when I have accused of deliberately belittling people, by supposedly using big words I know they won't understand. I found it quite hurtful at the time. I didn't choose to be aware of the words I know. I never swap a word out unnecessarily, and if there is a specific word available which is more accurate then that's the word I will use. I feel kind-of obligated to the language to use whatever is most fitting, and if that happens to be a more obscure word then that's just how it is. Perhaps because I am autistic I view that as better than being less accurate. I certainly don't think I'm better or cooler than anybody else when I do it. If anything it sometimes makes me uncomfortable, I can get anxious about whether people think I'm trying to be smug. I feel people like BJ are smug.
So long as someone isn't patronising with it, it's okay right? We have a rich language and want to embrace it, surely? I do hope so. I worry about the dumbing down of society (I'm not suggesting that narrow vocabulary is a sign of lower intelligence, it definitely isn't, but I feel there is a disposition where there is lower intelligence to have a disinterest in furthering vocabulary. Hope that makes sense).
@Indrid-Cold Very, very cool. I find it attractive, and that isn’t necessarily in a sexual way. I feel drawn to people who are interesting, intelligent and have a bold, vast personality, and I feel like vocabulary enhances one’s personality a lot; they become less dull. However, there are extremes. If you don’t know what the other person is saying at all then it’s not so cool. 😂
Plus, I feel like a lot of vocab is only good if the rest of your personality is good. As in, if you’re a nerd who doesn’t do anything other than reading and use long words, it’s a put off. However, if you’re really cool and funny, and have good traits but also good vocab, it’s just better.
You've got to the nub of the matter, MA. Richness of language is everything. It's like, if you were drawing a comic, and you weren't inclined to draw interesting backgrounds behind the fisticuffs superheroes.
As to Bozjozz, I'm just worried. Now I know how the Yanqui's feel with Trump. For entertainment purposes, he's a bargain, but he's still gonna cause a ruckus.
@Issyogurlll I know, right? The balancing act between my wonky personality and my willingness to use alt. words is a constant headmuck, like I've got to find just the right level of nuance, nuance, nuance or I'll get RUMBLED and put in the stockades by people I was hoping to impress.
I love Dancing with words, so Id say it's cool although I'm p lame so Idk whether my opinion is valid xD
@Deimat I'm the sole arbiter of what's valid, and I say your opinion in very valid ind(ri)eed.
It's entirely uncool. We should reduce our vocabulary to a set of 300 words, to avoid confusion for people who don't know the rest :triumph:
@petrapark3r This could be a good thing. If there were fewer words with which to justify and internalize our frustrations, we might just have to let our emotions run riot, like cavemen. Captain Caveman had a very small vocab and those three floozies The Teen Angels luv'd it.
Okay @Indrid-Cold got all the information they could ingest. A good collection of responses. I am adding nothing that has not already been said.
@Sabo-go-thud Yes, but yr response still counts as a piece of performance art, and performance art is KOOL.
