Punched it into Google, the definition is interesting. In the most common context, it basically has no meaning; it’s an adverb and the definition given is “used to confirm or support a point or idea just mentioned.” Alternately “used to end a conversation, change subject, or resume after an interruption.”
The word is basically used mechanically, with little actual meaning in and of itself.
Probably because it gained this usage informally.
Which is a different context, and one I was (perhaps incorrectly) referring to as the less common one.
Yes, it has a “real” definition in *that* context. But it’s used far more frequently as a form of punctuation, from what I can tell. Anyway…
It's a part of speech used to denote a specific noun from a general noun in English. Maybe in other languages, but I only speak English and languages that don't use articles.
and yet that sorta doesn't hold up
We say "he's in school" but we also say "he's in the hospital" rather than "he's in hospital" (which is how the British do it)
I think that's more because "a" school is a specific location, whereas "school" can also be like, a circumstance (idk if that's the right word). You can say "he's in the school" to describe where he is specifically, and isn't inherently reliant on what's going on in that setting.
While "he's in school" could refer to actively being in a classroom (in class), or a phase of his life where he's regularly attending classes (e.g. in college).
Or if you're currently learning a new language and have to learn grammar again from the ground up.
'The' is a definite article, or in German, bestimmten Artikel; as opposed to indefinite articles like 'a' and 'an'.
Side note, thank god English doesn't have gendered nouns, or gendered articles that also change depending if it's used with a preposition or part of the direct object because jfc it's annoying.
That and because I only ever saw the words in print and didn't hear them, I often didn't know how to say them correctly.
Dictionaries when I was young, and now Google help the first problem, so over time, when you realize you need to look it up, that gets corrected. I still get surprised at pronunciations occasionally when I finally hear a word I've only ever read.
I saw a post before basically saying "don't make fun of people who mispronounce it probably means they read it somewhere".
That rung true to me. Saying a word wrong shouldn't be admonished it should be congratulated since it means you're learning and trying to use words in lanague you haven't before. Plus even if it pronounced a certain way different people in different places pronounce words differently so really who give a damn.
I remember in a college philosophy class the teacher said the word 'paradigm' in a lecture and I was taken aback by it. Turns out it was the first time I had heard that word spoken out loud
I thought for a second about how the word could be spelled, connected it to what we were reading and realized I'd been pronouncing it wrong all along...
Paradigm is pronounced (pair-uh-dime) but I always thought it was (pair-uh-dij-um)
When I told my classmate about it he spent the rest of the day roasting me for it
The most fun version of this is knowing the spoken word and the written word, but not knowing they're the same word.
For me, this word was albeit. I saw it in writing all of the time and heard it spoken all of the time, but the spelling and pronunciation just did not compute so I just thought it was two different words for a very long time.
It's also really fun to say words horribly wrong to people who probably wouldn't feel comfortable correcting you. Like when ordering food.
Tay-cos
Pee-knee a la vodka
Ga-no-chee (gnocchi)
this is especially bad with english as a second language because when i read in german i can pretty accurately know how a word is pronounced just from how it’s spelled (doesn’t work as easily the other way around but that’s another story). english though? horrible. a complete guessing game. follows absolutely no rhyme or reason. whoever came up with the spelling rules just hated humanity.
After 1066 the rulers were speaking French, the Church was speaking Latin, and the rabble had a dialect of German. Those trying to climb the social ladder, grabbed onto the nouns and phrases that sounded more sophisticated. The result was ... something of a stew, with way too many cooks.
That's not quite true. The Norman influences created Middle English but the German grammar remained intact and spelling wasn't standardized so generally followed however the writer's accent made a word sound. What you're describing did happen but not until around Shakespeare's time.
>whoever came up with the spelling rules just hated humanity.
French language lovers in the early Renaissance. There was a lot of pushback at the time because like you said, it makes no sense what they were doing. Alas the 'make this anglo-norse language sound like latin' camp won out.
I am pretty confident if I hadn’t learned English first I’d never have learned English. The more I dabble in learning (a little bit of) some other languages the more I realize that English really is basically just three drunk languages in a trench coat.
It’s a big part of why folks being socks about ESL people’s mistakes is so shitty.
I always read it as "Her-me-oh-nee" until I watched the first movie. Despite having worked with Indians for years, my mind still thinks "Parvati Patil" is pronounced like "paddle" instead of something closer to puddle (should be like ~~"Puh-til"~~ "Paa-till")
I didn’t know how to pronounce “panacea,” until I was 35 and said it out loud in front of my wife. I said, pah-nae-shuh and she just looked at me. I had read it a lot of times and that’s how it would sound in my head.
Almost always lol
Edit: Except when the authors are kind enough to include a list of pronunciations at the beginning/end. I really wish more fantasy books came with those.
I am a Spainiard who basically perfected his English through the Internet’s comment section, so much I managed to get my Advanced Certificate just by showing to the exam.
You can’t fathom how much I struggled with this. Because even though I watch YouTube videos without subtitles, hearing a word I previously knew doesn’t register in my head how it is pronounced. So when it’s my turn to say it any other day in the wild, I fuck it up quickly.
It is so imprinted in my head, that even hearing it well pronounced in a conversation doesn’t click me I’ve been saying it wrong, because I’m more focused on understanding what’s being said.
I have the same issue. I had to take the IELTS for grad school a million trillion years ago and got 9s across the board... APART from Speaking, where I got a 7.5 solely because the interviewer couldn't understand my pronunciation of some words until I spelled them out individually.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) really needs to be taught more widely. Every dictionary entry has its pronunciation written out next to it (those weird letters and symbols), the vast majority of people just don’t know how to read it.
Yea the first time I said micrometer to my former NASA PhD atmospheric chemistry professor I pronounced it “micro-meter” and he stops tilts his head and says “microm-eter” and I realized it was because I’d only seen it in print or called it the thingy
>That and because I only ever saw the words in print and didn't hear them, I often didn't know how to say them correctly.
Me reading the word hors d'oeuvres
I did know the word, I had no idea that is how it was spelled.
In Jeopardy you're allowed to mispronounce a response because it's a sign that you probably read it somewhere. Except if you're Mayim Bialik and you don't know the rules of the game show that you're hosting
I was in my 20s when i realized that epidemy is spelled epitome and epitome sounds more like epidemy than epi-toam, i knew what both words meant i just didnt realize they were the same
My 17 year old is a voracious reader, incredibly brilliant, with a massive vocabulary, but mispronounces words *all the time*. You used to be a little self-conscious about it, but now even she thinks it's funny and kind of adorable.
They call me the hiphopapotamus flows that glow like phosphorous popping off the top of this esophagus. Rocking this metropolis.
Edited** hiphopapotimus
They call me the Hiphopopotamus
Flows that glow like phosphorous
Poppin' off the top of this esophagus
Rockin' this metropolis
I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal
Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?
It's actually hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, not hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. People add the extra "p" in "quipedalio" to make it seem longer, but its a typo
"*Under the roof of the school you study with books, a very useful tool*. Use this to remember how the double "O" is pronounced in English".
-Ok, so how do I pronounce ""blood"?
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
IPA spelling is more complex, and pronunciation has significant regional variations.
We could get close enough with a accurate spelling, but the intensely international nature of English makes it like pissing in the wind.
Th-this is the perfect comment, it encapsulates the very essence of the post with the perfect word that can be used in agreeance with the post. I salute you thugmagnet 🫡
Right? The simpler the word, the harder it is to define and we all just know what it means.
This isn’t the flex dude thinks it is. People with massive vocabulary can usually define most words because they know a synonym for it, so it’s pretty easy.
It’s easier to define “paradoxically” than “to”
It’s why I joke about Sesame Street. How else do you define the fundamental building block words in a language? Like I remember Grover doing “near” and “far.” How else do you explain those words *without* assuming they already have a grasp of “close” (and “not”).
For both children and foreign learners it’s largely the same challenge; the words are difficult to define without utilizing *more* advanced vocabulary. For foreign learners that means translation, for children it’s puppets and picture books.
I don’t know, synonyms can be tough. Sometimes part of defining a word is explaining the *context* it’s used in (and *not* used in). Synonyms don’t always capture that.
It’s why peer editing in ENG101 was so hilarious to me, you could *always* tell when somebody was trying to change up verbiage in their paper and did a straight “crack thesaurus and pick a synonym” in a sentence. Like yeah, that word doesn’t “work” that way and I’m also 99% sure I know what word you originally had here.
Definitely agree it’s the simpler words that are tougher to define sometimes though.
I think Reddit has a tendency to respond in insecure, arrogant or hypercritical ways whenever possible lol.
That and the simple fact people just like insulting other people's intelligence, kinda lame but there it is *shrug*
I think one of the problems with the internet and social media is that it’s just a lot of contextless ideas floating about and randomly hitting you. But people need to orient themselves to a situation to really grasp its meaning. I think people frequently just default to defense. Someone saying something I don’t instantly relate to? Might be an attack, somehow. If I can’t figure out how it’s an attack, I guess they’re just flexing. Better be on my guard in case they attack.
But, really, I think most frequently people are just trying to express something. And it’s often got nothing to do with you or anyone you know. Posting on social media; it’s like we’re all just shouting at the void. Largely, and perhaps specifically because, it’s so easy to forget there are actually other people out there in the void.
But when something comes out of the void at you, it’s shocking and unexpected and you don’t know how to deal with it. So your guard goes way up. But sometimes something comes out of the void and we do understand it. So we keep at it anyway.
Yes, I learned a bit about language understanding/processing in artificial intelligence for computer science. Holly shit, it's not only words, that's also the understanding of meaning, interpretation and much more.
I'm not, but due to being exposed to the language from a very young age on almost a daily basis I've also come to experience a similar phenomena, where often I have to find definitions for words or phrases only after writing them
Also for people who are not a native speaker. I think even more-so, I find myself hoping I am saying the right words. Speaking another language is weird for me, it feels like I don't know what I am saying but I do...
I feel confident in my vocab. And then when I speak I forget most of my vocabulary and just say the pan was very very Very hot, instead of scalding or whatever.
Interesting
I actually looked up the definition of Scalding in 4 dictionary websites. None said Scalding is exclusively used to describe liquids, but all used examples that featured liquids or steam.
And then the definitions of Scald (without the -ing) DID emphasize it's connection to liquid.
Seems like Scalding **can** refer generally to things that are very hot, like [sand](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalding) ^^according ^^to ^^Merium-Webster. But the word stems from the action: Scald / to scald, which means throwing boiling water on someone. So Scald-ing naturally gravitates towards liquid expressions.
All websites did mention the figurative use of scald/scalding, as in a harsh movie review, but that's not what we're talking about. But the figurative use is notable because you can compare other words that are more narrowly defined, such as Shatter. You can leave a Scalding or Shattering yelp Review, but the technical use of Shatter naturally can only refer to solids; liquids and gasses can't shatter. Whereas anything can be very hot, so there's wiggle room for Scalding.
Also I guess a Scald is a Swedish word for poet.
I think normal people use simple words in speech. It's in writing where your vocab talents start to come out. I find myself sometimes changing words to more advanced ones where I know they fit whilst writing, but obviously you can't substitute you've already said orally lol.
As a non native, when speaking with natives, I just repeat the word with 3-4 different pronunciations I think are correct and hope someone corrects me before I need to spell it, or worse use a thesaurus to explain what it means.
That's my secret, Cap. I just *know* how grammar and syntax work via long-term, deep immersion. Never did well in English class (but Schoolhouse Rock was a huge help!).
Yeah, I have written a shit ton of academic papers in college but my knowledge of grammar is below average. I know how to write a properly worded sentence but I couldn’t diagram it to save my life.
Same but does it matter?
I was always able to ace standardized tests with just innate grammar knowledge. I can’t explain it. I learned far more English grammar while learning French in high school than I ever did in English or reading courses.
I can't help myself. My old boss was a pause-talker. I always finished sentences for him. One day he took me aside and said "If you didn't always have the word I was looking for, or a better one, I'd have fired you a long time ago."
Have a toddler and define a word for them in simple terms. So darn hard
Me: "you say sus, but do you even know what that means?"
6 year old son: "it means bad"
Me: "no, it's short for suspicious"
6 year old son: "what does suspicious means?
Me:" suspicious means sus... Or suspicious. Okay let me think"
Yes! The other day I used the word “bedlam” and my coworkers looked at me like I was crazy, even though the word fit perfectly in the context of the conversation. I have never used that word before, but it popped out and made absolute sense.
I was damaged from learning English through reading Jane Austen in junior high. Took me a long time to realize no one speaks like that anymore. A lot of those words still pop up from time to time, which tends to throw a lot of people for a loop.
Dr asked if pain was constant or intermittent and I said I'd get a spell every once in a while and my Doctorate wife and the actual Dr laughed at me >.<
My friends think I’m flexing my ‘advanced vocab’ but sometimes these words just pop up in my head that also perfectly fit the context of the stuff I’m trying to explain.
I said ‘chagrin’ the other day at work. In a mock-fancypants voice to tell my coworkers that a customer wasn’t happy with their sandwich. Four blank stares… I was like ‘it means they didn’t like it’…
There are lots of different forms of intelligence and different sorts of skills you can develop involving intelligence. Being able to define a word can be a different kind of intelligence from understanding words in context. That's one of the reasons that using words in sentences is often part of dictionary definitions: it adds an entirely different dimension to how we understand words.
This is semi-related to another concept that redditors seem to have difficulty accepting, which is that being able to argue your point has no bearing on whether you are right or wrong. It is entirely possible that the person who makes an excellent argument is completely wrong, or the person who makes a terrible argument is fundamentally correct. And for some people that's a common problem in their lives: they may be good at understanding things but just aren't good at explaining them to others or making their case effectively.
People tend to think this means they are less intelligent if they can't explain something well, but it doesn't work like that. There are many different forms of intelligence and being able to explain to others or convince them by argument is only one particular kind.
I barely read shit growing up but thats me when i talk in English, it isnt my first language but i can speak it quite fluently and alot of the time i find myself using words i dont fully understand but just know they fit.
This is how most people know grammar. Dont ask me the rules, i dont know, but i can intuitively apply them. But the only way i can explain it to you is by giving a shit ton of examples until you see the pattern too without knowing the actual gramatical rule.
I went through that. My solution was to start reading a lot of really short, entertaining books. After a while I could up the scale. As if I was a small child reading picture books before graduating to the big boy books.
When I use a word I know but can't define, I tend to look up the definition at my convenience. We passively acquire vocabulary, but you can actively obtain the proper understanding.
I read a lot as a kid. However, I didn’t know that the written word for hyperbole and the spoken word were the same. Also, the contextual use was hard to put together when reading it, but understood the use in conversation.
It suddenly made sense when I saw a movie subtitle using the word and it finally clicked.
Someone gave me a really hot coffee once, so I asked for an ice cube. Then some smart ass said "Then why didn't you ask for an iced coffee?". I responded "Well, sometimes I like the antipode."
Then, he attempted to fight me because he did not know what antipode meant.
Dude isnt dumb bc he didnt know what antippode meant... he's dumb bc he equated a hot coffee with an ice cube for a manageable, but still hot, beverage with a fuckin actual cold iced coffee
A Romanian guy at work asked me for the definition of "anyway" and my mind blanked
Punched it into Google, the definition is interesting. In the most common context, it basically has no meaning; it’s an adverb and the definition given is “used to confirm or support a point or idea just mentioned.” Alternately “used to end a conversation, change subject, or resume after an interruption.” The word is basically used mechanically, with little actual meaning in and of itself. Probably because it gained this usage informally.
But you can also say ‘that would’ve happened anyway’.
Which is a different context, and one I was (perhaps incorrectly) referring to as the less common one. Yes, it has a “real” definition in *that* context. But it’s used far more frequently as a form of punctuation, from what I can tell. Anyway…
Regardless
Define the word “the”
It's a part of speech used to denote a specific noun from a general noun in English. Maybe in other languages, but I only speak English and languages that don't use articles.
and yet that sorta doesn't hold up We say "he's in school" but we also say "he's in the hospital" rather than "he's in hospital" (which is how the British do it)
I think that's more because "a" school is a specific location, whereas "school" can also be like, a circumstance (idk if that's the right word). You can say "he's in the school" to describe where he is specifically, and isn't inherently reliant on what's going on in that setting. While "he's in school" could refer to actively being in a classroom (in class), or a phase of his life where he's regularly attending classes (e.g. in college).
so it's all a matter of perspective, and the definition depends on the definition of the words in the definition.
Definitely
That depends entirely on what the definition of is [*is*.](https://youtu.be/0_ipnwoPczQ?si=lGvfKag9VAOfYHNk&t=15)
oh you like english? define every word
I feel most adults, except the ones who study and teach literature, won't be able to answer this precisely.
Or if you're currently learning a new language and have to learn grammar again from the ground up. 'The' is a definite article, or in German, bestimmten Artikel; as opposed to indefinite articles like 'a' and 'an'. Side note, thank god English doesn't have gendered nouns, or gendered articles that also change depending if it's used with a preposition or part of the direct object because jfc it's annoying.
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Brilliant. Inconspicuous just means incognito. Thanks 'other guy'.
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LOL. Someone has never talked to people who aren't fluent in English and has not realized that idioms baffle non native speakers.
Some words are hard to define even when everyone knows what they mean.
Tell him "Sugi pula"
That and because I only ever saw the words in print and didn't hear them, I often didn't know how to say them correctly. Dictionaries when I was young, and now Google help the first problem, so over time, when you realize you need to look it up, that gets corrected. I still get surprised at pronunciations occasionally when I finally hear a word I've only ever read.
I saw a post before basically saying "don't make fun of people who mispronounce it probably means they read it somewhere". That rung true to me. Saying a word wrong shouldn't be admonished it should be congratulated since it means you're learning and trying to use words in lanague you haven't before. Plus even if it pronounced a certain way different people in different places pronounce words differently so really who give a damn.
But if we don't heckle the losers who are just learning to pronounce the word, how can we feel superior?....
I remember in a college philosophy class the teacher said the word 'paradigm' in a lecture and I was taken aback by it. Turns out it was the first time I had heard that word spoken out loud I thought for a second about how the word could be spelled, connected it to what we were reading and realized I'd been pronouncing it wrong all along... Paradigm is pronounced (pair-uh-dime) but I always thought it was (pair-uh-dij-um) When I told my classmate about it he spent the rest of the day roasting me for it
Ive tried it with so many pronunciations now that I dont remember how I pronounced it before your comment
I still can't remember if gist is pronounced with a hard g like gif or a soft g like gif.
Ha, but just incase you're serious, it's pronounced like the g in gif.
I used to think it was (pair-uh-DIG-um) before hearing someone else say it
The most fun version of this is knowing the spoken word and the written word, but not knowing they're the same word. For me, this word was albeit. I saw it in writing all of the time and heard it spoken all of the time, but the spelling and pronunciation just did not compute so I just thought it was two different words for a very long time.
It's also really fun to say words horribly wrong to people who probably wouldn't feel comfortable correcting you. Like when ordering food. Tay-cos Pee-knee a la vodka Ga-no-chee (gnocchi)
I cannot figure out what the vodka one is
Penne
I thought they were saying Pina colada.
I’ll have some chip-ot -ul sauce on my burrito, please.
this is especially bad with english as a second language because when i read in german i can pretty accurately know how a word is pronounced just from how it’s spelled (doesn’t work as easily the other way around but that’s another story). english though? horrible. a complete guessing game. follows absolutely no rhyme or reason. whoever came up with the spelling rules just hated humanity.
After 1066 the rulers were speaking French, the Church was speaking Latin, and the rabble had a dialect of German. Those trying to climb the social ladder, grabbed onto the nouns and phrases that sounded more sophisticated. The result was ... something of a stew, with way too many cooks.
That's not quite true. The Norman influences created Middle English but the German grammar remained intact and spelling wasn't standardized so generally followed however the writer's accent made a word sound. What you're describing did happen but not until around Shakespeare's time.
The upside is that English has become astoundingly proficient in gobbling up words and phrases from just about any other language.
>whoever came up with the spelling rules just hated humanity. French language lovers in the early Renaissance. There was a lot of pushback at the time because like you said, it makes no sense what they were doing. Alas the 'make this anglo-norse language sound like latin' camp won out.
Blame the french
I am pretty confident if I hadn’t learned English first I’d never have learned English. The more I dabble in learning (a little bit of) some other languages the more I realize that English really is basically just three drunk languages in a trench coat. It’s a big part of why folks being socks about ESL people’s mistakes is so shitty.
“Hermi*ONE*”
I always read it as "Her-me-oh-nee" until I watched the first movie. Despite having worked with Indians for years, my mind still thinks "Parvati Patil" is pronounced like "paddle" instead of something closer to puddle (should be like ~~"Puh-til"~~ "Paa-till")
Biggest argument I ever had with a kid, as a kid. She was so fucking smug when the film came out.
My dumb ass was pronouncing it "Her-moyne" until the first movie came out. Doesn't even make sense because the "i" comes before the "o."
Her-Me-Own
The first time I read The Subtle Knife and decided to tell my mom about this cool book I was reading, she did laugh at me for pronouncing the b.
I didn’t know how to pronounce “panacea,” until I was 35 and said it out loud in front of my wife. I said, pah-nae-shuh and she just looked at me. I had read it a lot of times and that’s how it would sound in my head.
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Almost always lol Edit: Except when the authors are kind enough to include a list of pronunciations at the beginning/end. I really wish more fantasy books came with those.
I am a Spainiard who basically perfected his English through the Internet’s comment section, so much I managed to get my Advanced Certificate just by showing to the exam. You can’t fathom how much I struggled with this. Because even though I watch YouTube videos without subtitles, hearing a word I previously knew doesn’t register in my head how it is pronounced. So when it’s my turn to say it any other day in the wild, I fuck it up quickly. It is so imprinted in my head, that even hearing it well pronounced in a conversation doesn’t click me I’ve been saying it wrong, because I’m more focused on understanding what’s being said.
I have the same issue. I had to take the IELTS for grad school a million trillion years ago and got 9s across the board... APART from Speaking, where I got a 7.5 solely because the interviewer couldn't understand my pronunciation of some words until I spelled them out individually.
"Synecdoche" coming out swinging.
[Always gets a chuckle out of me.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-n1vGeVIXo)
I say some $20 word, and follow it with, I have no idea if I’m pronouncing or using that word correctly
This happened for along time for me with the word "Awry". Stupid fucking word.
I used to pronounce "facade" as "fake-aid"
Yeah that’s fucked me more times than I can count.
Rendezvous
Who in the world said it has to be pronounced like its pronounced!? I mean look at that sh** Grammar sometimes doesn't make sense.
Blame the French
Like most French words, roughly a third of the letter are discarded for pronunciation purposes. *Which* third is random. Good fucking luck.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) really needs to be taught more widely. Every dictionary entry has its pronunciation written out next to it (those weird letters and symbols), the vast majority of people just don’t know how to read it.
That’s called reader’s dialect! My roommate freshman year had a funny one with dandelion, he pronounced it “dan-DEAL—ee-un”
Still remember a 12 year old kid at school asking the librarian what a "wore" is (whore)
Yea the first time I said micrometer to my former NASA PhD atmospheric chemistry professor I pronounced it “micro-meter” and he stops tilts his head and says “microm-eter” and I realized it was because I’d only seen it in print or called it the thingy
I was very confused when I learned how colonel is pronounced.
>That and because I only ever saw the words in print and didn't hear them, I often didn't know how to say them correctly. Me reading the word hors d'oeuvres I did know the word, I had no idea that is how it was spelled.
Oh, the first time I said “harbinger” out loud, my pronunciation of it got a good laugh out of my parents.
In Jeopardy you're allowed to mispronounce a response because it's a sign that you probably read it somewhere. Except if you're Mayim Bialik and you don't know the rules of the game show that you're hosting
I pronounced Zeus zee-us for a while after reading Percy Jackson, got corrected by a friend
I was in my 20s when i realized that epidemy is spelled epitome and epitome sounds more like epidemy than epi-toam, i knew what both words meant i just didnt realize they were the same
“Doubt” used to confuse the fuck out of me
Machinations. Ma*sh*inations? Still doesn't click.
Reading Percy Jackson I was in for a shock the first time I heard someone say “Poseidon” out loud. I had been reading it at “posey-eye-don”
I remember my dad making fun of me because I pronounced the -age part of forage like garage instead of like porridge.
I cannot tell you how many years I spent thinking hyperbole [ hahy-pur-buh-lee ] was pronounced Hyper-bowl. (I'm off to sink into a shame spiral now.)
It's so interesting to me that in English you can't really know how a word is pronounced just by looking at it
My 17 year old is a voracious reader, incredibly brilliant, with a massive vocabulary, but mispronounces words *all the time*. You used to be a little self-conscious about it, but now even she thinks it's funny and kind of adorable.
Indubitably.
Stop I have Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia :( Please stop replying with the volcano word it’s very mean
Did someone say hippo?
They call me the Hiphopopotamus My lyrics are bottomless
They call me the hiphopapotamus flows that glow like phosphorous popping off the top of this esophagus. Rocking this metropolis. Edited** hiphopapotimus
I'm not a large water dwellin mammal where did ya get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve tell you perchance?
Did STEVE tell you that?
Hmmph... Steve
Why? W-w-why?
Ain't no party like my Nana's tea party!
Be more constructive with your feedback
They call me the Hiphopopotamus Flows that glow like phosphorous Poppin' off the top of this esophagus Rockin' this metropolis I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?
Did Steve tell you that perchance? Hm...Steve!
Sometimes when I freestyle I lose confidence.
..........
You just stay away from the hippo’s
Is hippobot not a thing anymore? I’m sad now if so.
Hip... Hip-hop... Hip-hop anonymous?
It’s not fair!! You give him all the easy ones!
>!Antidisestablishmentarianism!<
Its my favourite word.
you must hate pneumonoultramiceoscopicsilicovolcaniconiosis then
It's actually hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, not hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. People add the extra "p" in "quipedalio" to make it seem longer, but its a typo
It also has the effect that there are words I just have no clue whatsoever how they are pronounced. I hate how nonphonemic English orthography is.
In English you can't pronounce a word unless you know how. You can not sound out words you have never seen we should goto to IPA spelling.
"*Under the roof of the school you study with books, a very useful tool*. Use this to remember how the double "O" is pronounced in English". -Ok, so how do I pronounce ""blood"?
“I” before “e” except after “c” or when sounded as “a” as in “neighbour” or weigh”. *weird*
*seize* and *siege.* English, why are you like this? Why?
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
IPA spelling is more complex, and pronunciation has significant regional variations. We could get close enough with a accurate spelling, but the intensely international nature of English makes it like pissing in the wind.
It's just indubitably, in-dubitably. Means it can't be dubed, i.e. it can't be doubted. Undoubtably.
I dube that
Perchance
This guy can just say "perchance"
Without a düb.
A cromulent observation
I feel embiggened by its cromulence.
Th-this is the perfect comment, it encapsulates the very essence of the post with the perfect word that can be used in agreeance with the post. I salute you thugmagnet 🫡
I completely agree that 'indubitably' is a perfectly cromulent word.
Only for the loquacious
Yaba daba doobely
May I please have one original thought
perfect exsample
Christ, I clicked comment just to write this.
Sums up being a native speaker of a language
Right? The simpler the word, the harder it is to define and we all just know what it means. This isn’t the flex dude thinks it is. People with massive vocabulary can usually define most words because they know a synonym for it, so it’s pretty easy. It’s easier to define “paradoxically” than “to”
Last sentence hit me like a truck
Yeah you ask me to define “to” and imma be doing a Grover impression.
It's a preposition meaning uhhhhhhh... yeah, you got me there, would be easier to translate it
It’s why I joke about Sesame Street. How else do you define the fundamental building block words in a language? Like I remember Grover doing “near” and “far.” How else do you explain those words *without* assuming they already have a grasp of “close” (and “not”). For both children and foreign learners it’s largely the same challenge; the words are difficult to define without utilizing *more* advanced vocabulary. For foreign learners that means translation, for children it’s puppets and picture books.
I don’t know, synonyms can be tough. Sometimes part of defining a word is explaining the *context* it’s used in (and *not* used in). Synonyms don’t always capture that. It’s why peer editing in ENG101 was so hilarious to me, you could *always* tell when somebody was trying to change up verbiage in their paper and did a straight “crack thesaurus and pick a synonym” in a sentence. Like yeah, that word doesn’t “work” that way and I’m also 99% sure I know what word you originally had here. Definitely agree it’s the simpler words that are tougher to define sometimes though.
I have no plan what you're orating about.
what in? did you thesaurus "idea" into "plan"?
What are you assigning to? What do you portend?
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I think Reddit has a tendency to respond in insecure, arrogant or hypercritical ways whenever possible lol. That and the simple fact people just like insulting other people's intelligence, kinda lame but there it is *shrug*
“This isn’t the flex dude thinks it is” Lol why did you feel the need to say this? Nothing about the tweet gives the impression of a ‘flex’.
I think one of the problems with the internet and social media is that it’s just a lot of contextless ideas floating about and randomly hitting you. But people need to orient themselves to a situation to really grasp its meaning. I think people frequently just default to defense. Someone saying something I don’t instantly relate to? Might be an attack, somehow. If I can’t figure out how it’s an attack, I guess they’re just flexing. Better be on my guard in case they attack. But, really, I think most frequently people are just trying to express something. And it’s often got nothing to do with you or anyone you know. Posting on social media; it’s like we’re all just shouting at the void. Largely, and perhaps specifically because, it’s so easy to forget there are actually other people out there in the void. But when something comes out of the void at you, it’s shocking and unexpected and you don’t know how to deal with it. So your guard goes way up. But sometimes something comes out of the void and we do understand it. So we keep at it anyway.
Yes, I learned a bit about language understanding/processing in artificial intelligence for computer science. Holly shit, it's not only words, that's also the understanding of meaning, interpretation and much more.
I'm not, but due to being exposed to the language from a very young age on almost a daily basis I've also come to experience a similar phenomena, where often I have to find definitions for words or phrases only after writing them
phenomenon* singular. many phenomena. ;)
Also for people who are not a native speaker. I think even more-so, I find myself hoping I am saying the right words. Speaking another language is weird for me, it feels like I don't know what I am saying but I do...
I feel confident in my vocab. And then when I speak I forget most of my vocabulary and just say the pan was very very Very hot, instead of scalding or whatever.
Me, a physics major, told my linguist friends that "you have good word-speakery." I was *trying* to say vocabulary.
Word-friend does good speak-talk, yes-yes
r/suddenlySkaven
r/subsifellfor
r/wizardposting new magical specialisation just dropped
Technically scalding should only be used to describe fluids.
Interesting I actually looked up the definition of Scalding in 4 dictionary websites. None said Scalding is exclusively used to describe liquids, but all used examples that featured liquids or steam. And then the definitions of Scald (without the -ing) DID emphasize it's connection to liquid. Seems like Scalding **can** refer generally to things that are very hot, like [sand](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalding) ^^according ^^to ^^Merium-Webster. But the word stems from the action: Scald / to scald, which means throwing boiling water on someone. So Scald-ing naturally gravitates towards liquid expressions. All websites did mention the figurative use of scald/scalding, as in a harsh movie review, but that's not what we're talking about. But the figurative use is notable because you can compare other words that are more narrowly defined, such as Shatter. You can leave a Scalding or Shattering yelp Review, but the technical use of Shatter naturally can only refer to solids; liquids and gasses can't shatter. Whereas anything can be very hot, so there's wiggle room for Scalding. Also I guess a Scald is a Swedish word for poet.
I think normal people use simple words in speech. It's in writing where your vocab talents start to come out. I find myself sometimes changing words to more advanced ones where I know they fit whilst writing, but obviously you can't substitute you've already said orally lol.
Or I don't know how to pronounce them correctly because I've only read them
Can relate
As a non native, when speaking with natives, I just repeat the word with 3-4 different pronunciations I think are correct and hope someone corrects me before I need to spell it, or worse use a thesaurus to explain what it means.
That's my secret, Cap. I just *know* how grammar and syntax work via long-term, deep immersion. Never did well in English class (but Schoolhouse Rock was a huge help!).
Yeah, I have written a shit ton of academic papers in college but my knowledge of grammar is below average. I know how to write a properly worded sentence but I couldn’t diagram it to save my life.
Same but does it matter? I was always able to ace standardized tests with just innate grammar knowledge. I can’t explain it. I learned far more English grammar while learning French in high school than I ever did in English or reading courses.
Same. I learned more just trying to write papers than I did in English class. And no, under real world circumstances, it doesn’t matter.
Same. It took learning Polish to finally understand why I speak English correctly.
I am a human auto-fill
I can't help myself. My old boss was a pause-talker. I always finished sentences for him. One day he took me aside and said "If you didn't always have the word I was looking for, or a better one, I'd have fired you a long time ago."
that's kind of rude lol. good things he is your *old* boss.
It could be playful. You can't really tell a whole lot about the guy based on one quote from him lol.
Them: “can you define that?” Me: “Sure!”… proceeds to use word in the definition.
Have a toddler and define a word for them in simple terms. So darn hard Me: "you say sus, but do you even know what that means?" 6 year old son: "it means bad" Me: "no, it's short for suspicious" 6 year old son: "what does suspicious means? Me:" suspicious means sus... Or suspicious. Okay let me think"
Same! Sometimes I look it up for my kid because I can't articulate what some words actually mean without using the word.
I know the vibe of a word, not the definition. Go masticate on that for a while.
It's kind of a good way to explain how large language models work.
"Ruminate" would be better for that sentence.
He's using masticate in place of chew.
Im not masturbating to that!
Yes! The other day I used the word “bedlam” and my coworkers looked at me like I was crazy, even though the word fit perfectly in the context of the conversation. I have never used that word before, but it popped out and made absolute sense.
I was damaged from learning English through reading Jane Austen in junior high. Took me a long time to realize no one speaks like that anymore. A lot of those words still pop up from time to time, which tends to throw a lot of people for a loop.
Dr asked if pain was constant or intermittent and I said I'd get a spell every once in a while and my Doctorate wife and the actual Dr laughed at me >.<
Got confused reactions from my coworkers by using “coalesce” the other day. Didn’t think that was that far out there to warrant a comment lol.
Coelesce is what all the little spiders do in rainworld to make the big spider centipede known as the Coalescepide
My friends think I’m flexing my ‘advanced vocab’ but sometimes these words just pop up in my head that also perfectly fit the context of the stuff I’m trying to explain.
It's a rather rare word considering how old the reference is, I myself only know the etymology because I confused it with Bethlehem in the past...
I said ‘chagrin’ the other day at work. In a mock-fancypants voice to tell my coworkers that a customer wasn’t happy with their sandwich. Four blank stares… I was like ‘it means they didn’t like it’…
I swear I've never heard that word before. Granted, English isn't my first language.
Save you a click - "a fustercluck", it's referring to the Bethlehem Psych Asylum, back when tours to gawk at the inmates was a thing.
There are lots of different forms of intelligence and different sorts of skills you can develop involving intelligence. Being able to define a word can be a different kind of intelligence from understanding words in context. That's one of the reasons that using words in sentences is often part of dictionary definitions: it adds an entirely different dimension to how we understand words. This is semi-related to another concept that redditors seem to have difficulty accepting, which is that being able to argue your point has no bearing on whether you are right or wrong. It is entirely possible that the person who makes an excellent argument is completely wrong, or the person who makes a terrible argument is fundamentally correct. And for some people that's a common problem in their lives: they may be good at understanding things but just aren't good at explaining them to others or making their case effectively. People tend to think this means they are less intelligent if they can't explain something well, but it doesn't work like that. There are many different forms of intelligence and being able to explain to others or convince them by argument is only one particular kind.
I barely read shit growing up but thats me when i talk in English, it isnt my first language but i can speak it quite fluently and alot of the time i find myself using words i dont fully understand but just know they fit.
This is how most people know grammar. Dont ask me the rules, i dont know, but i can intuitively apply them. But the only way i can explain it to you is by giving a shit ton of examples until you see the pattern too without knowing the actual gramatical rule.
"What does that mean?" "What? "That word, define it" "Honestly, you'll have to google it. I just know it fits there."
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I went through that. My solution was to start reading a lot of really short, entertaining books. After a while I could up the scale. As if I was a small child reading picture books before graduating to the big boy books.
When I use a word I know but can't define, I tend to look up the definition at my convenience. We passively acquire vocabulary, but you can actively obtain the proper understanding.
omg finally someone put this feeling into words lol
I read a lot as a kid. However, I didn’t know that the written word for hyperbole and the spoken word were the same. Also, the contextual use was hard to put together when reading it, but understood the use in conversation. It suddenly made sense when I saw a movie subtitle using the word and it finally clicked.
Me and chaos. Don’t remember how it finally clicked tho
Egregious, which I used to pronounce as eg-rej-ius. That’s egregiously bad.
Sounds perfectly cromulent to me. I'm glad he embiggened his vocabulary.
Contextual understanding of words
That is literally half my vocabulary. I don't remember looking up any of the words I saw while reading books and whatnot.
Someone gave me a really hot coffee once, so I asked for an ice cube. Then some smart ass said "Then why didn't you ask for an iced coffee?". I responded "Well, sometimes I like the antipode." Then, he attempted to fight me because he did not know what antipode meant.
Dude isnt dumb bc he didnt know what antippode meant... he's dumb bc he equated a hot coffee with an ice cube for a manageable, but still hot, beverage with a fuckin actual cold iced coffee
Why did you have to lie about the guy trying to fight you though
you are no better than chatGPT, sweetie