I am going to study the effects of high sounding words on graduate students, and develop new words for testing on them. This new field will be called Edification.
Our first studies will establish the lack of relation between the use of words like "epistemological," "teleological," "hermeneutics," and the actual necessity of using those words and others like them. Additional studies on sneering, snide remarks, eyebrow raising, and low, dry sounding chuckles will be implemented after a basic correllation between the use of such terms and correct usage has been effectively dismantled.
The goal of Edification will be to create a corpus of literature on hip graduate students and to further develop a cadre a intellectual-sounding words that they can use to clearly demarcate thier alleged coolness. The benefits of this demarcation will be that I can avoid frequenting coffee shops or other establishments where this syllable-mongering takes place and start actually learning things.
If you would like to be a pioneer in the field of Edification, leave me a message below, with your favorite pseudo intellectual word. Thank you.
Signed,
Professor Bunbun Latte Starbucks Chair of Caffeine Induced Excellence
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
You've got nothing on the medical and legal professions, where the first order of business is to teach new students the special argot. The legal profession bats around Latin as if they hadn't gotten the memo that the language is dead. The medical profession, on the other hand, uses abbreviations from the Latin, to ensure maximum incomprehensibility.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I like the idea...but most of the grad students I know only PRETEND to understand what those words mean, in any context. The real sneering and snideness only comes when one reaches the post of assistant professor at some minor college in Nowheresville, and attends national conferences.
But, in keeping with the idea, my favorite pseudo-intellectual word would be diegesis and its adjective form, diegetic.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Autochthony is my current favorite, or "natural."
For some reason the latin in law doesn't bother me so much--I know it's unnecessary, but sometimes they help as an easy reference. Like res ipsa loquitur, which means the thing speaks for itself, refers to a specific type of case in tort law. I think the thing that bothers me about the language of scholarship these days is that so many times it seems unnecesssary and counterproductive to use a word like "autochtonic" instead of "natural."
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
But you've got to admit, it's a great Hangman word.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
You'll be happy to know that in the Political Science department here at IU there's a movement to use simpler, clearer language. Its focusing less on vocabulary and more on sentence structure, but simplifications in both are happening.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Or scrabble. In fact, tenure track will be awarded to all those who contribute 7-letter words to this thread.
Edifists, as we will be known, will strike fears in the hearts of competitive wordists everywhere.
Mwuwhahahahahah!
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Fugu, that makes me ecstatic. I'd love to read examples of thier work, if you know of any.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
I'll see if I can dig some of it up. Due to tenure, there are still a good number of successful holdouts, so I can't just pick a paper by anyone. I believe a lot of the movement is occurring in our Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis ( http://www.indiana.edu/~workshop/ ).
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Not particularly Edifierrific, but my favorite hangman word is "queue" People get the Es and then think that's all the vowels it has and burn through a lot of letters.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Mine is defenestration.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
14...I guess I have tenure, anyway.....
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Hey! You stole my word!
*shoves Kwea out a window*
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
My least favorite word is "utilize".
It has the exact same meaning as the word "use" but I guess the two extra syllables make it better.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences of utilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But utilize can mean “to find a profitable or practical use for.” Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
A new favorite:
sca·tol·o·gy Audio pronunciation of "scatological" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sk-tl-j, sk-) n. pl. sca·tol·o·gies
1. The study of fecal excrement, as in medicine, paleontology, or biology. 2. 1. An obsession with excrement or excretory functions. 2. The psychiatric study of such an obsession. 3. Obscene language or literature, especially that dealing pruriently or humorously with excrement and excretory functions.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
That one stinks...
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I've always liked "problematic."
It wedges its way into so many situations, if you let it.
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
Only when you problematize them.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Congratulations, Kwea & Engimatic! You've been appointed to the Scrabble Chair of Letter Excellence, and the Hangman Center for Maltreatment of Stick Figures, respectively. You have a stipend for golf pencils and small notebooks.
Still available in the Edification department:
The Protection of Small Furry Creatures Chair Chairperson for the Committee of Iffiness Associate Professorships of Upwords, Crosswords, Trivial Pursuit and Boggle.
At the Institute of Edification, we're looking for a Provost of Provocation. This will require multiple submissions of 7 letter words that are synonyms for "smartitude," and selection via committee to be named by the Latte Foundation.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
I will begin recieving letters of nomination after I finish my shift at the Antique Hut.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Wow, I'm honored, because the majority of my maltreatment of stick figures preceding this momentous occasion has been perpetrated in the realm of emotional abuses, primarily but not exclusively.
"Where I come from we just shorten that sentence down to 'Woo!'" --Trucker Jim.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
To be fair, lingo-ising common language by the less than intellectual can be just as thwarting of cognition. The biggest difference is populist speakers try to limit syllabastic construction while specialized linguists try to increase the verbage conflation.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
'nuff said.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
Somewhere, there's an article by Orwell about how people shouldn't use "big" words when "small" ones are so much more understandable. I wish I could find it.
--j_k
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice.
Posted by johnsonweed (Member # 8114) on :
We could just about put any Latin word on the list.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Dear Everyone,
You have all been selected by the Latte Committee due to your excellent wordification of this thread. I heartily commend you on your unerring scholarship and cutting wit.
Your duties as professors of Edification will be a quarterly meeting to be held on the Hatrack regarding the indoctrination of future faculty members.
Thank you all very much.
Professor Bunbun Latte Distinguished Scholar of the Turtleneck
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Swerpunkt
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Most of my attempts at a 7-letter word for smartitude wound up being adjectives, while smartitude itself is clearly a noun. I shall present the only one which remains as a reasonable synonym, however: Geekery.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Chthpsy. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, or what it means, but, hot dang, what a word!
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I would just like to point out that "epistemological," "teleological," and "hermeneutics," are actually useful in my discipline. And why were all three examples in the first post theological words anyway?
The united order of grumpy theologians will be filing a complaint with your dean, Professor Bunbun.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I believe a metacognitive approach is in order.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Tante, obviously it's pronounced just how it's spelled.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I not only twisted my tongue, but I severely sprained it, and will need to keep it elevated for a week. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*looks forward to seeing what an elevated tongue looks like*
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Dkw, I feel your pain. Have your dean call my dean.
I would clarify that I have designated epistemological, teleological, hermeneutics, heuristics and even eschatological for their uses outside the field of theology. Please keep in mind that the central tenet of Edificationism is that we seek to establish first and foremost that such words be abandoned when are not used responsibly. This the doctrine of "crappism" first advanced by the mighty Edifist faculty you see posting here.
Ithyphallic.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hey! Watch your language!
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
dkw, truth be told those theological uses were utilized by English departments long before they became studied by religious students. It wasn't until the Dead Sea Scrolls that they became common theological excergesis.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Nerdity.
The nerdity of the situation was surpassed only by its geekidity.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
Thinksy
I was going to ask her out on a date, but then I realized she was more thinksy than I.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Pfft.
Really, people. It's not geekery and it's not geekidity. (Where do you come up with these?) It's geekitude. Or geekitudinousness, if you must.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
In the Edifist paradigm the correct term is geekery. This was established by Professor Enigmatic in the early days. He is the Hangman Chair of our department.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
"the early days" = yesterday?
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I remember yesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as if they're here to stay.
Flatpopitude -- The propensity to make pop references that fall flat since they refer to the popular culture over 25 years ago.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Geekitude is identification with the geek archetype, a self-imposed mythos as a focus of geekal pride.
Geekidity is a quantitative measure of rigid adherence to geekiosity.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
More people need to go the the circus to see the funambulists.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Geekal...isn't that derived from the Greek God Geekos, God of Gustating Poultry Craniums?
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Geekal...isn't that derived from the Greek God Geekos, God of ingestation of Poultry Craniums?
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
My favorite is "non-holonomic."
Only five syllables, though. I'll have to look harder.
I have used it, in context, at work. It describes a floppy hinge, or joint, as in, "That axle in the pizza cutter is, basically, a non-holonomic pin."
I've also used "terrestrial" as a point of reference, as in, "You should really compare the functionality of the cameras we'll be using in orbit against their simpler, terrestrial counterparts." But even the geeks I was dealing with didn't know what the hell I was talking about!
Posted by JenniK (Member # 3939) on :
i am a staunch supporter of antidisestablishmentarianism!
that's 28 so what does that make me ??
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Old.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
A geek.... Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Epictetus: Geekal...isn't that derived from the Greek God Geekos, God of Gustating Poultry Craniums?
Beautiful. The word and etymology! Gotta love it.
You can bite the head off my chicken any day.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote: You can bite the head off my chicken any day
Considering the pic you posted already, wouldn't that be painful? Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Yikes!
Never mind.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
quote:dkw, truth be told those theological uses were utilized by English departments long before they became studied by religious students. It wasn't until the Dead Sea Scrolls that they became common theological excergesis.
Truth be told I've read a plethora of theological books written before the dead sea scrolls were rediscovered, and I disagree with your assesment.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
One of my favorite lines of all time is from Lewis's "Elmer Gantry":
quote: "They make us work good and hard, Brother Jewkins. They give us pretty deep stuff: hermeneutics, chrestomathy, pericopes, exegesis, homiletics, liturgies, isagogics, Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic, hymnology, apologetics--oh, a good deal."
"Well! I should say so!" worshiped old Jewkins, while Mrs. Gantry marveled to find Elmer even more profound than she had thought, and Elmer reflected proudly that he really did know what all but a couple of the words meant.
"My!" sighed his mother. "You're getting so educated, I declare t' goodness pretty soon I won't hardly dare to talk to you!"
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Heck, you'd also like my Organizational Informatics class. Memos due every week on the reading -- max length fifty words.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
"the early days" = yesterday?
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
??
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)