We are Anonymous. Resistance is Futile.

[Pagan]

People never believe me when I say this country keeps its populace educated to a sixth grade level...

I remember hearing somewhere that all newspapers were written on a 8th grade level. Judging by the quality of writing that I see in them anymore, I think 3rd grade might be stretching it!

I had sort of a complex dating back to grade school regarding people who ridiculed me for using big words and "acting like I was smarter than everyone." Upon graduating high school, I told myself that I would never dumb myself down for anyone again; if they didn't understand my vocabulary, the failing was theirs and not mine.

Noelegy, I had the same problem! I think that's why my best friend is who she is, and she reads a lot, too. In fact, she's the only person I know that reads faster than I do! For some reason, it still seems to be a "crime" that we're female, we're smart, and we don't apologize for it.

I had a prof for English 101G that had us keep a journal. Now, I always thought journals were akin diaries. You write down whatever you want however you want. This is what she said to me after we had turned them in, "It feels light". Apparently, I didn't use enough words?! With actually possessing a large vocabulary, why in the hell am I going to use five words to say something when I can use one? It's my journal after all!

OT: Noelegy, your avatar very is cute, but didn't you have a Jethro Tull one? I liked that one, too!

[karma_gypsy]

My job is to post auctions on eBay. Well, I write out the descriptions and my manager feels the need to look over them (not necessarily proof read it, which I would rather appreciate her do). I often use the same description over and over again for the same items, in this case, it was a lot of 60 DVDs. I've been using the description for awhile, but it seems, she (my manager) just caught a word she didn't recognize. And the word is (drum roll). . .

genre (well, actually, genres).

She thought it was a misspelling (from what I don't know). I had to explain to her what genre meant (without making fun, of course). She's said she's never seen it before . . . which is odd, because I use that word a lot. Like when customers are looking through our selection of movies and they ask, "are these alphabetized?" I respond with, "no, they're categorized by genre."

I get a lot of blank faces, it takes a few seconds for those four words to sink in. But they eventually get it. Even my fellow co-workers sometimes use that phrase (only because there's no other way to re-phrase it - well, I suppose there is, but I kind of enjoy the blank look).

Another time, again, my manager was looking over my descriptions. Sometimes, I'll get a certain word kick and I'll use it over and over again (in different descriptions, of course). I've been using this word for the past couple of days, my manager just caught it. This time she knew what it had meant, but she thought I was getting all tricky with using the long words. And the word is . . .

asymetrical

Although, I must add, she did travel a lot when she was younger (military brat) and her schooling was quite different from what we have today (or even what I had).

[uknz76]

This reminds me of high school, we were told to describe ourselves in two words. Most people used nice easy short words like cool,excellent,short,tall,blonde,young etc.

I ended up as: pedantic intovert

Haven't changed much

[Sliceanddice]

"I seriously doubt Go Ask Alice is in the same vein as your book query. And I can think of three books that closely match the search off the top of my head, but they have completely different "revealed" authors (The Federalist Papers, Primary Colors, and Imperial Hubris.

to be honest Beatrica Sparks name should be on Go Ask Alice's cover seeing as she edited it.

Oh and i use big words two.... i knew what what anonymous ment when i was 5

[draggar]

The populace has PLENTY of resources available to educate themselves, especially in this day and age. That's hardly the result of "the man" keeping them down, it's more of a result of people just being frickin' lazy.

laissez faire attitudes are ok about some things, but not knowing a pretty common word that's probably on quite a few 3rd graders' vocab lists? Shameful.

I fully agree, a lot of people here in the US are way too lazy. Just look at the stupid section on my web site, all of those tickets were submitted. Worlds like signal, failure, antenna, and ask are all misspelled on a regular basis. (ANd it is only getting worse).

I fully believe in the theory that the movie Idiocracy had. I see it form my customers every day.

"Cut my phone on"
"Can I axe you a question"
"What it does"
"Hows mah dawg"
"My phones not be workin'" (mind you, they have one phone)

Plus:
"Customers phone's are not gettin signale"

I'll admit, I'm not the best speller or grammician (is that a word), I even scored 360 verbal on my SATs (very low) but I take full advantage of SPELL CHECKER. It pisses me off to see corporate communications pushed out with spelling and grammitical errors (along with them just plan old looking like shit).

The public education system here sucks, but with the US being the torch-bearer for the internet, everyone here should have easy access to better educate themselves, even if it is just from a public library.

[Mark Healey]

to be honest Beatrica Sparks name should be on Go Ask Alice's cover seeing as she edited it.

Actually, It's a fake. She wrote it.

Oh and i use big words two.... i knew what what anonymous ment when i was 5

I hopw that was a joke.

As for getting all pedantic abous spelling; I will never fault anyone for spelling phonetically (Of course, we all know where to lay the blame for English spelling.).

Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.

Then ther're people like me who refuse to follow the more nonsencial punctuation rules they throw at you at school (If you can tell me what the apostrophe in the posessive stands for I'll use it.).

[Zell]

I woulda taken Beowulf. Great, great classic British Literature.

[Reyneth]

Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.

I've never heard that, but it describes me very well. Of course, I often can't spell them later either but I at least have a general idea as to the meaning.

At my new job, I was training and in my first day or two of talking on the phones when a man called in. Apparently, he'd called several times previously and would not agree to anything. Why he hadn't been sent to outside collections, I don't know. I had the woman I trained with because he was lobbing large words at me right and left (apparently his tactic to fluster my coworkers so they are derailed from setting up arrangements) and I tossed 'em right back at him and then some. Especially since I have just gotten myself enamored with Philippa Gregory's historical fiction about various women in the life of Henry VIII.

Even if the woman in the OP did not know that "Anonymous" is not actually a person how hard is it to understand the concept once it is explained to you? Insert old joke about how Anonymous was a busy guy because he's written so much!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Actually, It's a fake. She wrote it.


Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.
).

That reminds me of a guy in some of my college classes. Whenever he'd speak during project presentations, he'd be repeating stuff copied from a book or Web site, not his own notes. And he'd read it in the fastest, quickest manner possible and mispronounce several words it was obvious he'd never heard before. He'd bust out in a sweat and have stains developing under his armpits by the end. It was like at any minute, we'd have to push him down to the table and force a handful of Valiums down his throat.

The most memorable mispronunciation he offered up was "paradigm." He pronounced it "para-dig-em"

I felt so sorry for him.

[Broomjockey]

Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.

Yep, that's me. I've gotten a lot better at not butchering words as I've gotten older, but from 5 to about 16 years of age, I was using words that I'd only read, as no one I talked to was anything close to my reading level, so I'd no one to compare pronunciation with.

[Sliceanddice]

Actually, It's a fake. She wrote it.



I hopw that was a joke.

As for getting all pedantic abous spelling; I will never fault anyone for spelling phonetically (Of course, we all know where to lay the blame for English spelling.).

Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.

Then ther're people like me who refuse to follow the more nonsencial punctuation rules they throw at you at school (If you can tell me what the apostrophe in the posessive stands for I'll use it.).

............... i need to stop writing when im sweaty and tired....

[Posture Moll]

Have you ever heard the term "reader's vocabulary". It's applied to someone who uses unusual words with more than the usual number of sylables and butchers the pronounciation.

*Sigh*

Sadly, I am among their comical number. Took me forever to say 'monotonous' correctly and I still have to sometimes double-check with my eloquent mother to see if a certain word is pronounced 'es-kyoo' or 'es-shoo'.

It's not my fault I like to read classic literature that uses archaic or unusual words.

[AFpheonix]

My brother STILL makes fun of me for mispronouncing "sacred" and "macabre" when I was younger.

Hey, at least I used them in the correct context!

[Hon'ya-chan]

to be honest Beatrica Sparks name should be on Go Ask Alice's cover seeing as she edited it.

Oh and i use big words two.... i knew what what anonymous ment when i was 5

It's still credited to "Anonymous." If you don't like it, take it up with the publishers.

[Starlord]

It amazes me that our Army, is equipped with the most advanced tools in the history of the planet, but that the training manuals have to be printed with vocabulary aimed at sixth graders. Really puts "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader' in context.
I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and number 1, most people have trouble wrapping their minds around anachronism, and number 2, a lot of our members have trouble with the word populace, either not knowing what it means, or spelling it populous.