Intolerably pompous words

[wr250]

pink fluffy unicorns ,dancing on rainbows

PINK FLUFFY UNICORNS DANCING ON RAINBOWS

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Plethora.  I cringe when I hear it.

I do, too, because mine burst a couple of years ago and had to be surgically removed. 

[HAL 9000]

Just trying to be accurate...

I heard once on NPR...

Mistake #1

...that in 1950 the average American college student had a vocabulary of 150,000 words.  The same study was run in 2005, and the average vocabulary was 75,000 words--exactly half of what it had been only a few generations previously.  No explanation was provided, but 1950 marks the first year that the average American home had a television set.  Could 55 years of TV be the cause of so precipitous a drop?

As a former nerd who used to read the dictionary for no particular reason (fun doesn't come to mind - maybe just interest), your memory is just failing you, or much more likely, NPR regurgitates as fact, questionable, if not dubious drivel, and perpetuates utter rubbish it finds in other media.

Even I knew, as a perhaps seventh or eighth grader, that my entire American dictionary had just over 200,000 entries, and that a decent vocabulary might be around 10,000-15,000 words. That was more than 40 years ago. (I cite this only as an example that, even a nerdy junior high-schooler knew some basic facts about English language words)

So I just now took two minutes for research, and here and some quick-and-dirty findings:

[*]My beloved Oxford English Dictionary, 2

nd Edition (1989 - 20 volume set), contains 231,100 "main entry" words.
[*]A 1995 study shows that junior-high students would be able to recognize the meanings of about 10,000â€"12,000 words, whereas for college students this number grows up to about 12,000â€"17,000 and for elderly adults up to about 17,000 or more. (citation: http://tinyurl.com/mvyj4l8)
[/list]

So very roughly, a college student might have a vocabulary consisting of about 6.5% of all words in a dictionary (~15,000:231,100). Does it seem even remotely feasible, per NPR's own reporting, that today's college students' have lost one-half of their vocabulary in a generation or two, thus now roughly equivalent to a relatively uneducated populace that resides in deep Appalachia? Even at first glance, such prima facie nonsense lends itself extraordinary incredulity.

After writing the above, I stumbled on an old Snopes forum thread (2004) that mimics some of your NPR numbers, preposterous though they may be:
http://tinyurl.com/pcqbmhp

In an attempt at reasoned, rational thought, the following short article addresses vocabularies of modern college students versus those of "days gone by."
http://tinyurl.com/5fp7uh

Just to be clear, this is not an ad hominem attack, but rather just to make the point that it's always good to, if one does not have personal knowledge about a subject, to question and verify those espoused by lazy media sources.


      

[ItsOver]

Plethora.  I cringe when I hear it.

Reminds me of this guy.

[West of the Rockies]

Thank you for the info, HAL9000.  If my source (NPR) is wrong, I want to know.  I can accept being wrong and would rather just admit it then cling to disproven material.  I was not emotionally invested in the material, just sharing what I assumed was intriguing material from a fairly trusted source.

I STILL think too much TV is bad though.

[Gd5150]

Reminds me of this guy.

Howard was quite the wordsmith. "Look at that monkey run!"

[Eddie Coyle]

      It's an affront when one has to consult a dictionary and possibly learn something. I get angry when authors/speakers don't use overly ostentatious words. That said, catachresis should be an offense punishable by roundhouse kicks to the face and neck.

[zeebo]

I do, too, because mine burst a couple of years ago and had to be surgically removed.

That's ok, you can replace it with a veritable plethora.

[HAL 9000]

I STILL think too much TV is bad though.

Not only do I completely agree, but I'll take it a step further (farther?) - Facebook, Twitter, and texting (to include the general way in which much of our society uses smartphones) will be responsible for the demise of America. I would be remiss if I also didn't include Obama as a primary cause.

[Yorkshire pud]

Not only do I completely agree, but I'll take it a step further (farther?) - Facebook, Twitter, and texting (to include the general way in which much of our society uses smartphones) will be responsible for the demise of America. I would be remiss if I also didn't include Obama as a primary cause.

Only America? So long as it's only 5% of the planet's population we'll be okay; it's acceptable attrition if that's all. However I think the demise will be much more.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

That's ok, you can replace it with a veritable plethora.

That's an old wive's tale.  The plethora can't be replaced, and the worst part of living without one is that it makes it unbearably painful to play the violin.

[Scully]

For some reason this thread calls to mind a long-ago poster who left this forum with an unflattering letter of farewell in which he accused the group of being "a bunch of quasi-intellectuals, all trying to impress each other." 

[Yorkshire pud]

That's an old wive's tale.  The plethora can't be replaced, and the worst part of living without one is that it makes it unbearably painful to play the violin.

You're full of surprises! I didn't know you could play. Is the impression of strangled cats being thrown against walls just you getting a feel of the Stradivarius then?
I still think you over reached paying $2 million for a practice violin. It's your money though.

[Yorkshire pud]

For some reason this thread calls to mind a long-ago poster who left this forum with an unflattering letter of farewell in which he accused the group of being "a bunch of quasi-intellectuals, all trying to impress each other." 

I think we disappointed him on that; we don't try anymore.

[Mr. Fidget]

   If you want to hear National Propaganda Radio admit they are accepting advertising themselves... go to http://www.noagendasoundboard.com and play the clip "npr" | case closed

mf
ps. To bring this around to wordage... I'd submit: "indubitably."
pps. Sometimes communication is momentary.

[phrodo]

gratuitous ... forte ... vetted ... vitae -- just a few that come to mind.

[zeebo]

For some reason this thread calls to mind a long-ago poster who left this forum with an unflattering letter of farewell in which he accused the group of being "a bunch of quasi-intellectuals, all trying to impress each other." 

He just couldn't handle the bellgab milieu.

[ItsOver]

He just couldn't handle the bellgab milieu.

And the nuances of the politics thread, with the plethora of compliments.  The damn, dirty bastard.

[West of the Rockies]

Thank you for the info, HAL9000.  If my source (NPR) is wrong, I want to know.  I can accept being wrong and would rather just admit it then cling to disproven material.  I was not emotionally invested in the material, just sharing what I assumed was intriguing material from a fairly trusted source.

I STILL think too much TV is bad though.

Oh, oh, oh!  Spot the word choice error in my above quotation and win a fabulous prize of an internet emoticon of my choice.  (And I call myself an English professor....)

[onan]

Oh, oh, oh!  Spot the word choice error in my above quotation and win a fabulous prize of an internet emoticon of my choice.  (And I call myself an English professor....)

then, where is my emoticon?

[West of the Rockies]

Excellent work, sir!  Here ya go:  😖

[Kelt]

Oh, oh, oh!  Spot the word choice error in my above quotation and win a fabulous prize of an internet emoticon of my choice.  (And I call myself an English professor....)

The Americanism 'then', erroneously used in place of 'than'.

See it all the time.

Can I have an emote that's waving the Ukranian flag?

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

You're full of surprises! I didn't know you could play. Is the impression of strangled cats being thrown against walls just you getting a feel of the Stradivarius then?
I still think you over reached paying $2 million for a practice violin. It's your money though.

I'm glad you find my disability so amusing.  It's gratifying to know that your gleeful mockery gives you something to do besides playing the rusty trombone.

[Yorkshire pud]

I'm glad you find my disability so amusing.  It's gratifying to know that your gleeful mockery gives you something to do besides playing the rusty trombone.

You might call it a rusty trombone, and I agree it isn't in the prime of youth, but it's the only thing I have to piss through.

[WildCard]

"Think outside of the box, people. It's a new para-dig-um."
-some commercial for something, sometime ago

Maverick.


http://youtu.be/sBzXVHoF-pI

Oh look, Caribou Barbie learnt a new word.
And she's gonna use it till it's all used up.

Two of my favourite words are German and though quite ordinary appear deeply obscene

Einkaufsbummeln - does not mean shopping for bums

Elektrobootfahrten  - does not mean flatulent robot footwear

Shopping stroll? = mall walkers?
Electric boat rides? = motorboating?

[Gd5150]

-some commercial for something, sometime agoOh look, Caribou Barbie learnt a new word.

Only been 6 years, how's that hate treatin ya? 6 years, a destroyed economy, healthcare system, and zero foreign policy. But hey at least we have record breaking fundraising by our commander in chief. Good thing we didn't hire the hot chic from Alaska who used the word "maverick" too much. The country may have not have rebounded down the toilet like its done under Obamatard.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

You might call it a rusty trombone, and I agree it isn't in the prime of youth, but it's the only thing I have to piss through.

Your adorable doe-eyed innocence is what endears you to me, Yorkie.  It's a beautiful thing, and it saddens me to sully it by referring you to the Urban Dictionary for the proper definition of rusty trombone. 

[Kelt]

Only been 6 years, how's that hate treatin ya? 6 years, a destroyed economy, healthcare system, and zero foreign policy. But hey at least we have record breaking fundraising by our commander in chief. Good thing we didn't hire the hot chic from Alaska who used the word "maverick" too much. The country may have not have rebounded down the toilet like its done under Obamatard.

...another way of looking it is that's a good thing we didn't elect the really old guy with a dicky heart, and a vice president who takes part in witch-fighting exorcisms.

I like 'Obamatard' though... that's super clever. Makes it sound to me that a guy like you would have a good grasp of what makes an effective leader.

Yeah... Obama destroyed the economy.

:

[Yorkshire pud]

Your adorable doe-eyed innocence is what endears you to me, Yorkie.  It's a beautiful thing, and it saddens me to sully it by referring you to the Urban Dictionary for the proper definition of rusty trombone.

I have no need for this dictionary of urban origin of which you speak, my brother in mutual fetid prurience. I will only assume it involves a rash, embarrassing itching and several applications of ointment that makes the skin glow a disturbing hue of orange.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I have no need for this dictionary of urban origin of which you speak, my brother in mutual fetid prurience. I will only assume it involves a rash, embarrassing itching and several applications of ointment that makes the skin glow a disturbing hue of orange.

You're ice cold, my salacious sibling.  What you described is known as a sad trombone.


http://soundfxnow.com/soundfx/Sad-Trombone.mp3