Vocabulary in today's youth

[massuh]

I'm not going to say details because here in Argentina we speak English but we pretty much have the same problem, and the worst of it is that if you don't talk like them you are left out so you have to talk like crap when you are around your peers.

 

[vede]

I can't stand people who can't use a vocabulary worth more than a couple pennies. I've become so accustomed to speaking in a simpler vocabulary that it's spilled over into my writing. I can write really well when I put effort into it, though.

It's really somewhat insulting when I'm required to lower my vocabulary standard when conversing so that my ideas can be accurately conveyed to my audience.

I like to think that my vocabulary is great. It's mostly attributed to my knowledge of the language, though. I've been known to construct words on a whim, based on the knowledge of base Latin parts used in most of the English vocabulary as well as a good idea of how suffixes and prefixes function with certain word ends and beginnings. My constructed words that I've never heard or used before tend to appear in the dictionary, though. And I'm not even fifteen yet!

PS: Thanks, a thread where I can be a bit of a braggart and get away with it.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

PS: Thanks, a thread where I can be a bit of a braggart and get away with it.

Lulz, U talk right thing now...

 

[hughball]

the use of the word much to create sarcasm is the most frustrating trend...

 

[NonMagicPoet]

I hate hearing everyone say 'cool'. Whenever I im someone and tell them what I've been up to, I usually just get 'cool' back. It's very irritating. I try to mix it up, when someone asks how I've been, I say something like "groovy" or "moderately neato".

 

[Alex_P]

Slang and dialect have very little to do with vocabulary. You can speak well without speaking "properly."

(Vocabulary, for that matter, has fairly little to do with being able to speak beautifully or effectively.)

-- Alex

 

[Anarchemitis]

I would say that modern slang and lingo is quite trite and heavily infected by the starker parts of the internet.

I would describe my diction in one word: loquacious.

 

[Labyrinth]

I find the rather unsubtle lack of decent vocabulary to be quite distressing. How long before we wind up unable to express ideas because our words do not encompass them? Hello, 1984. Here we come Newspeak.

 

[flatearth]

My pet peeve is people who use numbers or letters as words. U, R, 2 and 4 are not words, and should not be used as such. It is not like the words they are replacing are that long to write in complete form.

 

[Labyrinth]

My pet peeve is people who use numbers or letters as words. U, R, 2 and 4 are not words, and should not be used as such. It is not like the words they are replacing are that long to write in complete form.

I wrote an entire rant about this.. it's on a forum thread from about two months ago, so good luck finding it.

 

[the monopoly guy]

my vocabulary is good.


That was subtle irony *wink*

 

[Labyrinth]

my vocabulary is good.


That was subtle irony *wink*

No no no, you need to do better than that. Something like "My words are many."

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

Trust me kids, this is not a new problem. I'm actually heartened to see how many of you lot are getting irritated about having to dumb down your speech patterns for the benefit of those less intelligent than yourselves. I've got the distinct impression that there are more of you now than there used to be.

Just keep on speaking the way you want to speak. Use the words you want to use. If others are too lazy to use what they've got between their ears, fuck 'em. The ones worth talking to will catch up.

 

[Khedive Rex]

I meet lots of folk who can't hear my fancy words.

I is too smart.

Really though, it's true. The sheer amount of people who aren't familiar with even basic words is astounding. I met a person who didn't know what "ponder" meant.

How do you live your entire life without figuring out what ponder means?!

 

[sammyfreak]

While I have an above average vocabulary for my age and setting I don't try to be snobbish about it. Just because I know long words doesn't make me smarter or "better", it just reflects the amount of advanced reading I do.

Eloquence has nothing to do with inteligence.

 

[Labyrinth]

Eloquence has nothing to do with inteligence.

I don't consider that entirely true. As I agree with the theory of multiple intelligences, I'd say that it helps along one particular facet of human intellect, and interrelates with many others. There's no way to exclusively say that one thing only helps one other.

 

[stompy]

I read a lot, so I end up having a somewhat extensive vocabulary. Fortunately, I don't say many words that people hdon't know the meaning of, so I suppose I'm lucky.

Though, my spelling is horrible. Thank you Mozilla...

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

I live in australia and it's pretty bad here, most teenagers are half illiterate, it's really bad when we have to read in class and someone doesn't know what reform means.

Most people don't like reading and speaking in a more sophisticated (see literate) way as it is "un cool" to read, it's like board RPGs it's considered something only for the nerdy and adults, sucks but it's inevitable, people are getting stupider.

 

[sammyfreak]

Eloquence has nothing to do with inteligence.

I don't consider that entirely true. As I agree with the theory of multiple intelligences, I'd say that it helps along one particular facet of human intellect, and interrelates with many others. There's no way to exclusively say that one thing only helps one other.

While I do agree with you regarding multiple inteligences it still doesnt mean that a well spoken person is a good communicator. Eloquence can be usefull when communicating with certain people or masking insecurity in oneself, but it reflects knowledge and not inteligence.

If Fyodor Dovstoevsky suddenly showed up in the US one day with no more then a beginners course in English he wouldn't sound very smart would he?