Did you get grief growing up for using words above a 10th grade level ?

[steve2470]

I say 10th grade as a very rough guess. It could be 6th grade for all I know. I don't mean a word like "gestational" but something more....ordinary. One time I said "transfer" and got grief for that. WTF.

Growing up in the small town south really sucked at times. I envy those who grew up in more educated locales.

[samnsara]

1. my dad worked for then owned a newspaper so we always had big words..

..and thank god we never used aint got no.

[steve2470]

5. "groundation" wtf

I used to hear this word years ago. It's not even a word. When you "ground your kid", it's called "grounded" or on "grounding" I guess. Just annoys me a tad when I hear these totally made up stupid words and have to keep my mouth shut.

[yellowdogintexas]

58. I always thought my daughter made up 'groundation'

as if it were a location. We live in Fort Worth not a small town at all. I think that one is kid talk

[steve2470]

59. I had several adults say this to me with a totally straight face

No joking, etc. They were from a rural area. I never heard a teen say it.

[Iggo]

2. Only from idiots.

[steve2470]

3. so true nt

[enough]

9. But there were plenty of those. NT

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Yes

I didn't take any guff over it either. When someone complained about my use of a '50-cent word,' I would explain that I wasn't 'puttin' on airs', that's just the way my mind works, and I wasn't 'dumbing down' my speech for anyone.

[steve2470]

6. you were stronger than I, awesome :)

Keep on being awesome and strong

[3catwoman3]

7. I briefly dated a guy about whom I was rather ambivalent.

There was a definite big gap between our educational levels and professional goals. I was trying hard to pretend it didn't matter, and that I wasn't a snob.

When he told me I would "have to stop using them big words," and the word in question turned out to be ambivalent, I was no longer ambivalent.

I had to face up to what I had been trying to deny/overcome - I have a bias for people being informed, intellectually curious, and able to hold a conversation at a sophisticated level. I am a snob.

[steve2470]

8. excellent decision

[rzemanfl]

10. I used the word "Luddite" in a conversation with a person from the south who

holds a professional degree. She did not know what it meant and said I was using obscure language A couple of weeks later I saw the word in the Beach Bee, a mostly advertising free newspaper that covered unimportant local events. Imagine my glee.

[steve2470]

13. only obscure if you never read

Sad, especially for someone with a professional degree.

[3catwoman3]

39. I spent most of my life thinking I was...

...not a Luddite. The advent of electronic medical records has forced me to accept that, at least in that area, I definitely am. I find myself not using the term, however, as I anticipate most people who hear me use it will have no clue what I am saying.

[lunasun]

11. Transfer? What's the alt ? Movin sumptin? Probably not called an intellectual exist at least

Because that ther is two big words

[steve2470]

12. I think this person just wanted to harass me

She knew (my mistake) that I had recently dropped out of law school, so that was her way of harassing me.

[rzemanfl]

16. The lady I mentioned finished law school. n/t

[steve2470]

17. she never reads unless it's romance novels or law books nt

[silverweb]

14. Not until I left home.

Then I experienced people laughing at ordinary words or phrases they apparently hadn't heard before - like when I described a plant in shock as needing to "reestablish its root systems" after being transplanted, or specified that only my "immediate family" was visiting soon (rather than the mob scene of multiple cousins). One idiot I couldn't manage to avoid much even started referring to me as "the Duchess" for using "them big words" (i.e., more than 2 syllables).

I was taught that words have precise meanings, and that people who want to be properly understood will use the most precise words that accurately convey their meaning. It was completely baffling to me that so many people considered that concept deserving of mockery.

"Ignorant and proud of it" is a truly pathetic mindset. All people of that mindset want is to drag everyone else down to their lowest common denominator. Such people get nothing more than an eye roll from me now rather than my former youthful attempts at explanation.

[steve2470]

15. very sad, for them

Ignorance in many cases is easily curable. Why be proud whatsoever of being ignorant, when you can educate yourself ? I firmly believe as you do, and I will use a "big word" when the situation calls for it. I will use "small words" if I don't need a "big word". That's not showing off or being pretentious but being precise, as you said.

[silverweb]

18. Agreed.

What's sad is that many people pander to this ignorance by lowering their own standards. It's part of the ongoing anti-intellectual undermining of our society.

Sometimes it's actually funny, though. One woman I knew was forever touting the lifetime benefits of a college education (despite not having one herself) as something "no one can ever take away from you." Then one day I disagreed with her on an issue and began to explain why, offering source material on the subject. Her dismissive reaction was to say, "Now you just sound like some liberal college professor." I cracked up laughing with "Thank you very much!" while she stewed.

[steve2470]

20. "liberal college professor" is code for....

someone who has a good brain, uses it, is not ignorant on a topic, and is not afraid to display their lack of ignorance.

*shakes my head*

[silverweb]

23. Or dares to correct an error...

... with actual facts. Sounds very familiar these days, doesn't it?

[steve2470]

24. it does

I despair for our democracy at times.

[Binkie The Clown]

19. I went to a big city school and hung out with others who had good vacabularies.

We nerds were collectively shunned, but within our own in-group, there was no grief.

[steve2470]

21. very nice!

[lastlib]

33. In my small-town school, I caught no end of grief for having a better vocabulary.

I had a college-level vocabulary by the time I was in sixth grade, and my classmates thought I was a show-off when I used it. Even my teachers had a diffcult time with me because of it. Seventh-grade English teacher once accused me of cheating on a spelling test (and gave me three swats for it!) because "no seventh-grader could spell all those words." When my parents and I went to the superintendent and I spelled words of equal difficulty, the school only avoided a lawsuit by disciplining that teacher (they couldn't fire her because she had tenure. They didn't renew her contract the next year, though.)

[steve2470]

44. wow so sorry to hear that! nt

[Warpy]

22. So did I, but that just shows that big towns in the south

were just as provincial and conformist as the small towns.

Eventually I realized it was them and not me.

[steve2470]

25. I would like to think that Atlanta is not that way now

I'm sure there are plenty of conformist types in Atlanta (especially in the burbs), but my overall impression has been that if you stay in the city proper, it's a more free atmosphere. It's not as free, IMHO, as San Francisco, but it feels that way. Tampa kinda feels that way too and Miami. DC, I guess, is technically southern since it's next to northern Virginia and I've heard Maryland referred to as having a southern culture (outside of Baltimore ? I dunno). I would imagine DC gets pretty conformist in some areas, like the Capitol and White House. I don't know much about DC, so someone will have to educate me.

[Historic NY]

26. We had a guy at work that well was at 6th or lower...

I used to give him a 60 thousand dollar word to throw into his reports from time to time......it would drive the boss's nuts.

We lost him too soon but he always reveled in having a big word for his reports.

[Shrike47]

27. On a few occasions, not often. Everybody I spent much time with read a lot.

i have never been as aware of criticism by others as some. Maybe I was razzed more than I remember.

[CottonBear]

28. No. I attended a priivate college preparatory school.

An excellent vocabulary was required in order to complete the coursework.

My dad was a surgeon. All of my friends had professional parents. I read widely and extensively.

[Aristus]

29. Yeah. I got called "Encyclopedia" and "Professor".

These were not terms of endearment. My classmates hated any sign of intellectual ability, and ruthlessly punished anyone who showed any.

[steve2470]

31. same for me

"Mr. Technical" was my nickname in 6th grade, I guess because my dad's legal mind rubbed off on me a bit.

[hunter]

30. I got grief in middle and high school simply for existing.

I was a weird, skinny, squeaky, highly reactive kid and a favorite target of bullies. It was Lord of the Flies bloody at times.

Fortunately I was safe at home, and my family was unabashedly intellectual... most especially in religious warfare. Okay maybe that part wasn't good. But you could discuss science or literature or even politics safely using language as simple or fancy or as you pleased and adults listened to kids.

[steve2470]

46. .......

[Laffy Kat]

32. I have always had the best words.

[LeftInTX]

34. No. I was teased because of my last name - nobody could pronounce

Not even the teachers.

It's Armenian and it isn't all that different from Kardashian. However, no one could pronounce it. When I tried to explain the origin of my name, they all starred at me as if I was from another planet.

They had never heard of the place and they accused me of making it up.

Then the more I tried to explain it, the more eye rolls I got.

I went to high school in a small town near Green Bay, WI.

[steve2470]

43. they said the globe or the atlas was lying too ?

Stupidity... it's what's for dinner. Not you, them. So sorry to hear that.

[LeftInTX]

45. Armenia was a Soviet State back then

It didn't have it's own color on a map.

My family was from Central Turkey.
There was a genocide.
A bunch of my family members died.
It was way over everyone's head.

No one believed it.

[steve2470]

48. oh, sigh, that sucks nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Yes, but it was just another aspect of my nerdiness.

My dad was a word addict; he loved reading and language and words for their own sake. He was a lawyer and he taught me the importance of precision in language - so he taught me to read when I was only three, and I learned a lot of big words from him when I was very young. When I got to high school he insisted that I take Latin because I couldn't be properly educated otherwise. I actually enjoyed that class.

My big words didn't do anything for my popularity in school, of course. I was the kid sitting in the back of the room reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. I didn't get picked on all that much, though - maybe because it would have been too easy.

[steve2470]

42. I love Wikipedia and I loved reading the EB when I was a kid also!!!

I gave Wiki a big lifetime donation and told them to never send me any fundraising emails. Now I can ignore their pleas without guilt Yes, I know, they have plenty of money from what I've read.

[Duppers]

36. Yes

By my small-town, small-minded southern mother. I was "putting on airs" if I passed her 4th grade vocab. (She was graduated from h.s. but I think it had to be via social promotions. I can say other unkind things about her but I'll stop there. Therapy has helped me...some. )

[wishstar]

37. In grade school my brother and I were singled out for saying we needed to urinate

Our teachers said we were the only kids to use that word

[steve2470]

41. you and your brother needed to micturate :p

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/micturate

Ok ok I admit, I've never used that!! LOL I knew micturition from reading medical records.

[Orrex]

38. I first recall someone asking me in 4th grade why I "use such big words"

A few years later someone accused me of "speaking to impress," which honestly baffled me.

I select the words that occur to me to use, as I always have. But even that sentence would have gotten me grief: "Why can't you say I pick the words instead?"


People still comment on my word choice now and then, but in my adulthood it's more commonly seen as a neutral or mildly positive quirk, rather than the point of ridicule that it became in my youth.

[DFW]

40. Luckily, no

As the son of a Washington print journalist, I spent many an evening at the dinner table asking my dad what he was talking about.

On the other hand, remember the chorus to the GWBush version of Home On The Range:

Home, home on the range
Where the beer and the cantaloupe lay
Where seldom is heard
A three-syllable word
Or if so, then it's one I can say

[steve2470]

49. hey, good to see you, hope your wife is doing well! nt

[DFW]

65. Yes, she is, thanks

I have some stuff I have to do here in the States, so I'm in Dallas now. She flew back to Germany a week ago, and I talked to her a couple of hours ago. She had already driven the 2 and a half hours up to see her mom and then back this evening. She has already lost her dad and her brother, so her mom is understandably important to her.b

[bikebloke]

47. The thing that was my mother...

...used to yell and scream at me for using "big words". But is was any excuse for the onslaught of verbal and physical violence.

[steve2470]

50. ......

[blogslut]

51. When I was in second grade...

the school librarian tried to discourage me from checking out a book because it was for sixth-graders. I stood my ground and enjoyed that book. It was about a family of cougars from the perspective of the cougars. I wish I could remember the title. I would love to read it again.

[Lindsay]

53. You've reminded me

of one of the few times my mother stood up for me - with the grade school librarian. I'd read the first couple of books in a series that were at grade school level - I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time - and wanted to continue reading the series, but they were labeled as "young adult" level, as the series followed a group of children as they grew up. The librarian wouldn't let me take one of the young adult series out until my mother came with me to the library and vouched for the fact that I could indeed read at that level. They must have made a special mark on my library card, because I never had trouble after that.

In response to the OP, I was very lucky in rarely getting mocked for my vocabulary unless it was by my father for mispronouncing a word I'd read but hadn't heard pronounced. My father was a voracious reader, so he encouraged me to read. We didn't have a lot of money, but my parents bought me a series of children's books (which I then read to my younger sister) and a set of Book of Knowlege encyclopedias which I read through several times.

I was also lucky to have mostly very good teachers who rewarded knowledgeable students, and was mostly in college-prep classes from junior high on.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

63. I was lucky with one of my teachers. When I was in 6th grade

had just turned 10 years old. That winter I came down with scarlet fever and had to be out of school for a couple of weeks, so my teacher gave my mom a reading list for me that included Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It was pretty adult for a 10-year-old but I was fascinated by it. I didn't think about it at the time but later I realized she knew I'd be bored with kids' books. She was a great teacher in a lot of ways.

[lunatica]

52. My parents gave me grief for not using the big words

In two languages.

I went to privates schools mostly so being grammatically incorrect or vocabulary impaired was what I got grief for.

[MsBeckee75]

54. I've had more than one ex tell me..

That they hated arguing with me because I would use big words they didn't know and confuse them. Therefore, they could never win an argument.

[3catwoman3]

55. My older son, now 27, has a prodigious vocabulary.

By the time he was about 11, his vocabulary was bigger than that of most adults, even well educated ones. When he was in 7th grade, his English teacher was new to that job - she had taught 4th grade for many years. One day, he used the word "anthropomorphize" and she told him it was not a word. Being the confident word nerd that he was, he promptly got the dictionary and showed her that, yes indeed, it most certainly was. She was a slow learner. I no longer remember the other word, but she made the same accusation not too long after that when he used another word she did not know.

Were I a teacher, and had I been embarrassed by a student knowing more than I did, I think I would not have made that same assumption a second time. I probably would have said something along the line of, "What an interesting word. Please tell me about it."

His 8th grade teacher pronounced poignant just the way it looks - "poyg-nent." Aauuugggghhhhh!

[ailsagirl]

56. Yes-- and I still get grief

[Skittles]

57. no, but I got grief for using American / English words, depending on which country I was in

for example, bangs / fringe, boots / wellies, potato chips / crisps, etc

[steve2470]

60. DID YOU LINE EM UP FOR A GOOD ARSE KICKING, AYE ?

YES INDEED , sorry could not resist

[Skittles]

61. heh

they only time I kicked ass was when they called me Yankee - even though I *WAS* a Yankee, I did not like their tone

[yellowdogintexas]

62. it depended on who I was with actually

I was an early reader (could read the news in 2nd grade) and came from a very long line of voracious readers. It was well known that we were heavy duty bookworms.

My mother, following in the tradition of her father, made me do the vocabulary test in the Reader's Digest ev ery month I think it was called "How to Increase Your Word Power".

I would get comments on big words, but since I ran around with people who were readers it was never a big deal.

[bluecollar2]

66. all the time

I think it was because I was sent to boarding school in England.

When I came home for the holidays my accent and use of Oxford English were a source of constant conversation.

[TuxedoKat]

67. A few times

One time someone questioned if the word "aplomb" was a real word and another time a supervisor wasn't familiar with the word "vitriolic"; I told him it meant "caustic". Not sure if he knew what that one meant either as I saw him go into his office and open up a dictionary.

[steve2470]

68. you educated him :) nt