Friday, April 25, 2014

You don't know what you don't know



Have you ever been talking to someone who used a word you did not know, and been so embarrassed that you let the person continue talking so he or she would assume you knew it? I haven’t, but I’ve heard about people who have. (Just kidding, of course I have!) If someone used a word you didn’t know, did you:  A) Ask what it meant, or B) Continue the conversation as if you understood, and then looked it up later?

If you chose “A,” then you are an honest person who recognizes the fact that you are not perfect, and cannot know everything. If you chose “B,” then this word’s for you: “Macroverbumsciolist,” which means a person who pretends to know a word, then secretly refers to a dictionary. (It also means someone who is unfamiliar with big words.)  

So the next time someone uses the word “macroverbumsciolist,” you won’t have to be a macroverbumsciolist!

Write soon,
Mary


7 comments:

  1. Mary--Most of the time I ask, because I'm paranoid I will get caught, tangled in the web of my ignorance.

    Fortunately, "macroverbumsciolist" comes up at almost every cocktail party I attend, so I am very familiar with the term. Usually over the spinach balls and the caviar. (Yeah, right. Sioux going to a cocktail party? No way!)

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    1. I thought I had seen you at those cocktail parties! Pass the caviar, please!

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  2. "Promulgated." That's the last word that threw me. I thought the user was trying to say "propagated" and got it mixed up. My high brow lowered a bit after my BFF Google told me it was a real word.

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  3. In most cases I ask, but sometimes I look it up. Never too old to learn.

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  4. I'm trying to improve my vocabulary for that very reason... I'm feeling pretty "dupid" (as my girls say) and I'm usually one who would stop someone in mid-sentence and ask, what does that mean? I've been known to fake it a time or two because I can usually guess at what it means based on the conversation, however, by the time I'd get around to a dictionary, I'd forget what the word was! LOL.

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  5. I'm with you, Lynne, sometimes I ask, and sometimes not!

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  6. Well I guess that proves there's a word for everything!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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