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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16469
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| Posted: 28 December 2014 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | 1
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Wallace Sellars wrote:
| ...Using the word "apropos" has gotten me blank stares from fellow educators.... |
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What a sad statement, that some modern educators are taken aback by the use of such a word.
Edited by Matt Hawes on 28 December 2014 at 9:36pm
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Jeffrey Rice
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 September 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 1161
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| Posted: 28 December 2014 at 9:57pm | IP Logged | 2
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Use of an obscure word or phrase is a great way to find the good conversationalists in the room.
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Doug Centers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 5518
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| Posted: 28 December 2014 at 9:57pm | IP Logged | 3
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I've used "unkempt " several times just to be corrected by someone thinking I meant to say "unkept".
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Shaun Barry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 December 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 6854
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| Posted: 28 December 2014 at 10:10pm | IP Logged | 4
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When my wife and I first started dating, back in 2000, she was flummoxed by my use of the word "arduous," so much so that it's become a running joke between us over the years.
(Hmm. Do people use "flummoxed" anymore, I wonder...?)
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Dan Marcoux
Byrne Robotics Member
Wha’ Happened?
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1433
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| Posted: 28 December 2014 at 10:41pm | IP Logged | 5
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Hmm. Do people used "flummoxed" anymore, I wonder...?
----
Rather niggardly, I'd say.
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16469
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 1:12am | IP Logged | 6
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And to show how bad it can be when people don't understand words anymore, there was that D.C. mayor that got into big trouble for using the same word Dan did properly:
Word controversy.
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Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 2:15am | IP Logged | 7
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Wallace...Using the word "apropos" has gotten me blank stares from fellow educators....
Matt What a sad statement, that some modern educators are taken aback by the use of such a word. "Apropos? Isn't he the guy who used to draw Batman, Aquaman, and The Spectre?" As for descriptions of Woody Allen, the word 'wimp' has (non-wimpishly) overrun and nearly eradicated 'nebbish' and 'milquetoast' from the average person's vocabulary. And I think people who aren't particularly fans of Allen are more likely to think of the whole Soon-Yi thing, and describe him as 'creepy'.
Edited by Brian O'Neill on 29 December 2014 at 2:19am
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J W Campbell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 June 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 353
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 2:39am | IP Logged | 8
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I was recently pulled up for using 'apposite' by someone I regarded as fairly well-read. For an added layer of irony, he immediately got the joke when I observed that the word was perfectly cromulent.
I'm also surprised by how few people seem to get the reference whenever I see someone who looks younger than they are and observe that they "clearly have a painting in their attic that doesn't look so good."
I mean, I've never actually read The Picture of Dorian Grey, but I thought the specific character and the general trope were still fairly well embedded in popular culture…
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Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 3:09am | IP Logged | 9
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I'm a fan of the TV show Jeopardy!, and I shake my head when people don't get clues regarding anything that happened more than about 20 years ago. Alex Trebek always uses the excuse that the contestants are 'too young to remember' whatever it is they missed, and I hate that explanation.Is the internet at fault, or justt he way the modern generation uses it? Knowing something like 'Winston Churchill' or Bewitched or 'Nathan Hale' shouldn't be too daunting for a Jeopardy! contestant. I knew of all three of those 'topics' when I was young,. Granted, we weren't misusing the great learning tool that is information at our fingertips...misusing it by looking for Youtube videos of cats dressed like Galactus reacting to the Kim Kardashian's butt picture!
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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 3:18am | IP Logged | 10
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I remember Mike Conners ten or so years ago in an interview talking about how all these kids were coming up to him because somehow MANNIX had gained new life on cable. That was when there were 100 channels--now there are 1,000! AND Netflix AND Hulu AND YouTube and DVD packages, etc.!
Those JEOPARDY contestants (and anyone else interested in pop culture) really have no excuse.
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Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 November 2013
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Posts: 1964
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 4:22am | IP Logged | 11
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I think MANNIX was on TV Land briefly about 10 years back. Naturally, I didn't get the channel then, and have still never seen that show!Recent JEOPARDY contestants have been stumped by 'This actress who starred in BEWITCHED' and 'The main character of this sitcom did an ad for 'Vitameatavegemin'. It would have have been unheard of for contestants to miss those in the '80s or '90s.
Edited by Brian O'Neill on 29 December 2014 at 4:26am
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Leigh DJ Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 February 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1570
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| Posted: 29 December 2014 at 5:24am | IP Logged | 12
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In my yearly review at work last week I used the word 'paucity' and then had to explain to my manager what it meant.
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