For others who "try too hard", merely using big words means nothing to me one way or the other, it is the attitude and tone they have while using them. They may say something vapid with fancy words, but that doesn't mean they are an empty vessel. People use simple words and think they're imparting wisdom or think themselves witty while they too are bereft of value. We all say stupid things. Being ambitious with your vocabulary is generally admirable, if it is occasioned by curiosity, or a longing to find better means of expression. I think it dumb to suggest that because they are not generally well educated they should not try to learn and use new and complex words, given that learning those definitions and cementing that knowledge through use only improves their education. If they use them incorrectly, and are open-minded I don't judge, but merely correct.
I'm guilty of being verbose, and I'm sure the people who object to me using large words or meandering sentences often think I'm pedantic and pretentious as well. In an attempt to justify myself I'd offer several reasons why I communicate in an awkward manner.
1. I do not have discipline of thought. My thoughts are highly scattered and I have trouble ordering them. This used to result in me using paragraph long sentences with four or more clauses in almost every attempt to express a thought. It still does in the first drafts of many of my sentences; but I've made great strides in this area. That said, I still sometimes arrange them poorly. Hence, I procrastinate in getting to a point, and retrace those points repeatedly to clarify them in my own head.
2. As a byproduct of my lack of social graces I also have an inordinate fear being misunderstood. This likewise results in multiple restatements of the same idea in order to hone in on my definitions and remove alternate interpretations. I do not view this quality entirely as a vice. Words are notoriously imprecise, and the greater number of correctly chosen words you use, the closer you will come to expressing an idea literally. This comes at the expense of voice, tone and sometimes accuracy, and I alter my style of writing far more than most people I know based on context.
3. I've avoided human contact for the preponderance my life, but read a great deal and especially at a young age. The nature of this reading was largely of a classical variety, with philosophical tracts and non-fiction occasionally represented. It set a formal default for my cadence. It's exceedingly difficult to immerse yourself in the poetry of Milton and philosophy of Kant's Critiques at the age of fourteen and enter adulthood with a normal voice. Ironically, given that I'm still saddled with that legacy, I'm not that person anymore. The shadows of his cadence remains, but his vocabulary was greater, his mind more disordered and bubbling, even if he was shallower in his reasoning. I read his papers and can barely follow his train of thought.
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