[Mannosuke]

Ever found yourself in a situation where you're just using your everyday vocabulary to express your thoughts, but others call you out for using "big words" when you can replace it with "smaller" words?

I find this rather common on game forums, especially when there are kids in like elementary school on it. When you try to answer someone's question a bunch of players would jump all over your post with comments like "dis aint skool" or "use smaller words plz no one knows what ur sayin"

[SailorBoy62]

Yes, I've had people go like, "Uh... what?" to me 'cause they don't know some of the words I say. And then I give them one of those O_O blank stares. Not my fault if you don't have past a 7th grade level of English.

[Honey.bee]

I get that sometimes too. How are they to judge but they're the one who can't widen their own freaking vocabulary. -_-

[sourx3candi]

i hate it when people look at me and say something "wow that was a big word" when i saw something along the lines of "wow that was amazing"

come on amazing isn't a big word...

[dandelionx]

lol, it never happened to me.
my vocabulary sucks so eh.
sometimes i tell my friend to stop using big words, but not big words as in "amazing." lol.
like bigger and fancy words.

[Psychotic Otaku]

This has always happened to me. Teachers praised how my "big words" were so uncommon to be heard when I was younger xD. My friends on the other hand, always told me to use the layman version of things when speaking. To be honest I get a little annoyed, because some words are pretty common... I get even more annoyed when I have to explain what something means when I'm online with someone who is a native english speaker. I understand if you don't get it if English isn't your first language lol. But yeah, just go to dictionary.com and you'll find the definition there. ><;;

[Mannosuke]

I get even more annoyed when I have to explain what something means when I'm online with someone who is a native english speaker. I understand if you don't get it if English isn't your first language lol. But yeah, just go to dictionary.com and you'll find the definition there. ><;;

I disagree, doesn't matter if someone's a native speaker or not, they're not expected to know a bunch of words.
I don't expect people to understand the words I'm saying, and if someone asks me to explain certain words I would make some attempt to explain it.

Now if you wanted me to give grammar lessons and the reasons why we precede nouns with articles, then I probably couldn't help you cause I never went through formal english lessons lol

[Psychotic Otaku]

^ Lol I think I worded that post wrongly xD. I do explanations too, but when I try to explain it like 4531205 times and they still don't get it that's when I get annoyed. Also, if it's a really common word/or something we just learned and I know they're pretending to be stupid just to piss me off, I get angry lol cause I've had my fair share of people doing that to me.

[hiswendy]

Yes and it feels weird because usually I feel that they should know the word.

[iridescent]

Yes it only really bothers me though when people act like "using big words" is such a pretentious thing... isn't it pretentious for them to point and call that pretentious, anyway? (And I'm being pretentious by calling that pretentious but I'll stop now ) It does get annoying when someone sits and uses big words while looking down at you over their nose like you're ignorant for not doing the same, but it's the attitude that's the problem, not the words.

Everyone thinks the way they think. It's kind of a shame when people go out of their way to insert "SAT words" into sentences that would have been fine/better without them, but if it's not intentional, can you help it if your head thinks of one word instead of another? To suggest that someone should swap "easier" words for "harder" words is kind of ridiculous. I mean, you could say that "show" should be used rather than "manifest" but the words actually have entirely different connotations.

[superpig]

Some of my friends complain that I use larger words. I generally don't care since I know my English writing isn't that great when it comes to writing essays and such which is why I try to broaden my vocabulary by using 'bigger' words ;o.

Most of the time I use straight forwards terms and slang though, so it's fine XD. It's only when me and my friends get into those deep/serious discussions that they start calling me out on the words I use XDD.

[AS1AND0LL]

I actually have some people around my age 17-21 asking me to not use big words, and sometimes I only do it on purpose to bug them but it's all for jokes only.

[Mannosuke]

I mean, you could say that "show" should be used rather than "manifest" but the words actually have entirely different connotations.

I would say both are different from a denotative view as well.

Very rarely have I heard someone replace "show" with "manifest" in their sentences, like instead of "showing the way" or "guiding the way" they "manifest" the way lol

[__LOST]

it is more annoying if you're in a class with someone & you're learning the same vocabulary but when you use it in a sentence they tell you to use smaller words or to explain yourself. it isn't that hard to pay attention in class, you know. also, like some people said, the substitute words don't always have the same definition, so the meaning is probably a little different from what you intended it to mean.

[randomdiscussionblog]

Because all I like to talk about is politics, or even more uninteresting subjects, and it seems to irritate or even infuriate all the people to whom I talk, I just stopped talking to people.

[IPwnx3]

I get that sometimes ><
Makes me want to shove a dictionary in their faces :3
Its even worse when I try to explain to them what the word means..
and they still dont get it =.=

[iridescent]

I would say both are different from a denotative view as well.

Very rarely have I heard someone replace "show" with "manifest" in their sentences, like instead of "showing the way" or "guiding the way" they "manifest" the way lol

I don't mean replace "show" with "manifest," I mean replace "manifest" with "show." I checked cuz I did feel like I might have made a stupid mistake, which made the word "manifest" start sounding weird to me, but dictionary.com's first definition of "manifest" in its verb tense is "to make clear or evident to the eye or the understanding; show plainly: He manifested his approval with a hearty laugh." You could say "He showed his approval with a hearty laugh" but while the very barest technical meaning (the laughter made his approval apparent) is the same, the connotations are different. ? In any case, bad example I guess. All I meant is that it's irritating for someone to say something like "do you have to use such big words?" or to assume you're going out of your way to sound "intelligent" when what you mean is exactly what you're saying.

[mentalfiction]

Happens a lot.
My cousins ask me to stop using big words all the time. buncha idiots >___> and then they make fun saying I'm showing off and I'm trying to look like I'm really smart (.....)
I mean, ever heard of the dictionary? Or reading a book? A magazine article even. Increasing your vocabularly takes only so much.

[dbSk iS k00l]

I get that sometimes too. How are they to judge but they're the one who can't widen their own freaking vocabulary.

Amen to that!

[#SHINAI]

Lol, I haven't been in a situation like that since seventh grade.

Seriously speaking though, use a word that has three syllables or more and you've either got people blown away by your "impressive" vocabulary or they're telling to you stfu.

One time, a girl in my English class said "I'm ravenous!" instead of "I'm hungry" and people gave her a wtf. I wasn't sure if it was because they didn't understand her or thought she was odd. She also used "aggressive" in replace of "tired." I might sound hypocritical but I was annoyed. Besides that, then I don't think using big words is annoying until it reaches an excessive amount in a sentence.

Hasn't anyone ever had a classmate who was really wordy with their writing and they thought they sounded smart?

It's kind of a shame when people go out of their way to insert "SAT words" into sentences that would have been fine/better without them.

To suggest that someone should swap "easier" words for "harder" words is kind of ridiculous. I mean, you could say that "show" should be used rather than "manifest" but the words actually have entirely different connotations.

I totally know where you're coming from lol. What's funnier is when the word has an entirely different meaning, or they've used it incorrectly.

Btw Mannosuke, I think you start up some pretty interesting discussion topics lol