Why do forums make people talk smart?

[Hedge]

Its not just the use of the advanced words, its the way people use them in arguements to some how give them the upper hand. I cant be the only one who has noticed this.

 

[dirtydog]

Its not just the use of the advanced words, its the way people use them in arguements to some how give them the upper hand.

How do you know that it isn't just in your mind?

 

[eXor]

..doctors or teachers etc. They dont seem to use an array of words that i see on here.

There is an elementary clarification for that. They probably take one look at you and "dumb down".

 

[semi-pro waster]

I think am an exception. i type the way i talk. If that makes whoever am debating or trying to get a point across to thinks they are superior....then so be it.

I'm not sure you can call yourself an exception when most people have said they do exactly the same You are right though that it should be someones point they are judged on, not on how they present themselves or their post but unfortunately it does have an impact. Unavoidably I will judge someone on their spelling(to a degree anyway) and their ability to utilise the apposite word at the appropriate point, I do try to minimise the bias I will then show but I could not in all honesty say that it has no impact - I'd suspect that a lot of people find the same.

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

What the hell was that for?

Stan

I could ask the same about your remark - what do you think it adds to your argument? It doesn't add anything of value, all it demonstrates is your self- and over-inflated ego.

You do not know anything about anyone's background, therefore making grandiose statements like the one I quoted can only cause alienation and irritation.

I will offer you a way out, however: what makes you assume that you have a richer vocabulary than "most" other people?

 

[cleanbluesky]

Its not just the use of the advanced words, its the way people use them in arguements to some how give them the upper hand. I cant be the only one who has noticed this.

I think that's what I would call 'deconstruction'. I studied it as part of critical social psychology at Uni, and it has changed my understanding of how knowledge is made and how to opinions are formed.

A very simple example of a construction...

"I am tired of your smelly comments"

Now, 'smelly' is a subjective term in this case, which means absolutely nothing in this context except to say that the author of the comment disapproves of the original comments. So... we deconstruct.

A possible response...

"What does 'smelly' mean? Why do you think it was 'smelly'? What is your reason for calling my cmoments 'smelly'?"

And then, the poster has to back up their statement on why the comments were 'smelly', and make that person admit as to whether the original comments were accurate using reason rather than using dismissive language.

 

[ElRazur]

I'm not sure you can call yourself an exception when most people have said they do exactly the same You are right though that it should be someones point they are judged on, not on how they present themselves or their post but unfortunately it does have an impact. Unavoidably I will judge someone on their spelling(to a degree anyway) and their ability to utilise the apposite word at the appropriate point, I do try to minimise the bias I will then show but I could not in all honesty say that it has no impact - I'd suspect that a lot of people find the same.

Cool, didnt read the whole thread when i posted that.

If you gonna judge someone on their ability to spell i personally think it is kinda obscuring you seeing exactly what the person is saying. Take someone like me, i dont speak english as a first language and on top of that, i have dyslexia (it tends to kick in when im involved in a debate, particularly when im trying to convince someone about something)....So would you tend to dismiss my view point if you and i are to engage in a debate? Bear in mind that i might actually know what im talking about in a debate..?

 

[semi-pro waster]

I will offer you a way out, however: what makes you assume that you have a richer vocabulary than "most" other people?

I fear you misread there, Stan said larger than "many" which may be a subtle but ultimately important difference.

For what it is worth, I read it as a harmless aside with no real weight to be attached to it. It would be very easy to say that one(as an individual) has a larger or more extensive vocabularly than many or even most of the people that they know because you are basing it on personal experience due to knowing people and not simply on what you see on an internet forum.

 

[dirtydog]

Cool, didnt read the whole thread when i posted that.

If you gonna judge someone on their ability to spell i personally think it is kinda obscuring you seeing exactly what the person is saying. Take someone like me, i dont speak english as a first language and on top of that, i have dyslexia (it tends to kick in when im involved in a debate, particularly when im trying to convince someone about something)....So would you tend to dismiss my view point if you and i are to engage in a debate? Bear in mind that i might actually know what im talking about in a debate..?

Personally I make exceptions for people whose first language isn't English (like yourself - albeit yours is still very good), but otherwise I can't help but at least partially judge people on the basis of their English skills If a grown adult who was born in this country writes like a five year old then it is hard to not have less respect for their posts.

 

[StixxUK]

You do what you need to do to get people to understand you. If that means using big words, use big words - but be aware you might end up having to explain their meaning to some people.

Hedge, I think you're absolutely right that people type in a different way to how they'd normally speak. OCUK isn't a formal place and it isn't necessary to write your posts like a formal letter. On the other hand, if that's how people feel comfortable writing, then let them - I'm sure you can understand what they write just as well as if it were pub talk.

The most important thing is just that we do use good enough language that people can see what we're getting at.

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

I fear you misread there, Stan said larger than "many" which may be a subtle but ultimately important difference.

Did he?


*checks*


You're right. @ me.

 

[Stan_Lite]

I fear you misread there, Stan said larger than "many" which may be a subtle but ultimately important difference.

For what it is worth, I read it as a harmless aside with no real weight to be attached to it. It would be very easy to say that one(as an individual) has a larger or more extensive vocabularly than many or even most of the people that they know because you are basing it on personal experience due to knowing people and not simply on what you see on an internet forum.

Thank you sir. You saved me a fair bit of typing (and probably did it much more politely than I would have done).

It would appear that Ex-Ronin is of a "jump in with both feet before checking what is actually being said" persuasion.

As semi pro waster rightly says, the phrase larger than many has an entirely different meaning to "larger than most". He is also correct in his assumption that I based my statement on personal experience. I do have a more extensive vocabulary than most of the people I have met but I have not met everybody so I couldn't possibly say I had a larger vocabulary than most, which is why I used the word many.

Ooops, I ended up rambling anyway

Stan

 

[Bakedgoods]

Is no one else smirking at all the people in this thread who have clearly sat down and deliberately posted unnecessary tripe becuase of the original post?

What are you trying to prove?

 

[semi-pro waster]

If you gonna judge someone on their ability to spell i personally think it is kinda obscuring you seeing exactly what the person is saying. Take someone like me, i dont speak english as a first language and on top of that, i have dyslexia (it tends to kick in when im involved in a debate, particularly when im trying to convince someone about something)....So would you tend to dismiss my view point if you and i are to engage in a debate? Bear in mind that i might actually know what im talking about in a debate..?

I'd love to say that I don't judge people on their manner of posting, either on how they spell, what vocabulary they use or most importantly on the content but it simply wouldn't be true. All those factors contribute to how much weight I will place on someones post, my grading(for want of a better term) is mainly subconcious but I recognise that it exists so I can attempt to adjust and allow for it.

While I say I judge based on spelling and vocabulary that doesn't mean that I immediately gloss over something just because it is poorly presented, I am aware that people may have dyslexia or may have any number of reasons for poor spelling or whatever but to say that it is as pleasurable to read as a well presented(not to forget with good content also) post would be untrue.

I didn't say I dismissed posts that didn't meet my obviously stringent and sterling standards but it colours my views, I will normally read anything however if it becomes more of an effort to read then mentally translate than the value or enjoyment I garner from the post then I do start skimming past the post and occasionally that includes bypassing that persons posts totally for a while.

//edit if it matters at all, you aren't on the mental skim-list

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

It would appear that Ex-Ronin is of a "jump in with both feet before checking what is actually being said" persuasion.

Nothing to do with persuasion, it's cultural.

 

[Nix]

Is no one else smirking at all the people in this thread who have clearly sat down and deliberately posted unnecessary tripe becuase of the original post?

What are you trying to prove?

I think you'll find that most posts in here are in jest

 

[Richdog]

Hedge I see the point, it was just illustrated badly. Fair enough, people on the forum do use vocabulary that they probably wouldn't use in everyday conversation, some more than others depending on their (lack of?) social skills, but then again this is not real-life. The written word in my view will always encourage a better standard of language, it allows you to think about what you are saying before you say it (figuratively), and to deliver your view as carefully, deliberately, convolutedly and as expressively as you like. As we see so often with posters such as CBS. Language is a good thing, it's just that you can use it to make someone with less linguistic magic than yourself feel an inch high and due to their own failings in that area, and they can't do a single thing about it. If you're less skilled at English you wll generally lose every online argument you have, period, whether you have a valid point or not. Even if the other person is wrong, if you can't express yourself and counter their points someone can talk you into looking like an idiot, that's just the way it is.

The real problem with forums is that they encourage behaviour you would not see the person engage in as much in real-life, it's far easier to insult someone or to be incredibly condescending when there's a monitor and miles and miles of telephone cable between you and that person. This encourages people to develop attitudes whereby they act that way often, and build a bit of a habit of treating people that way, developing an online persona that differs to ther real, often far milder and less offensive one. Half of my mates are builders and the other half are university-educated, and while the subject matter between the two groups varies greatly, the language doesn't as much as you may think, simply because in everyday life engaging ni social actvty with your friends no-one really talks as if they have swallowed a dictionary, even the ones who have.

Get most of the people on this forum who you think are a complete pain in the rear on their own in real-life and not only will you likely find that person isn't half as insulting, obnoxious or as arrogant as you thought he was, but that they probably act and talk completely different to the way you're used to seeing them posting. Forums just don't encourage "normal" behaviour from people a lot of the time, it gives folks the freedom to say and do what they like without most of the social constraints that bind us in the 'material world'.

Just my opinion.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Is no one else smirking at all the people in this thread who have clearly sat down and deliberately posted unnecessary tripe becuase of the original post?

What are you trying to prove?

I think it was inevitable and as a result I found it quite funny.

Back on topic: I do my best to judge a person on what they say rather than the way they say it, until it reaches a stage where their inability to express themselves stops them from making a comprehensible comment. I don't think I've ever jumped on the grammar band-wagon except in the case of bought and brought. I think everyone is intitled to one pet hate and thats mine. I correct people in real life when they say that.

Panzer

 

[starscream]

I think Hedge was commenting on posts such as yours where the author obfuscates with lavish and prodigal language.

Ofcourse your post may just be an example of repartee, although I'm assuming it took you some time compose

What makes you think I don't talk like that in real life

 

[Una]

On this forum a lot of the time i see people using words they wouldnt normally use in normal conversation. They use these words to give them some sort of sense of superiority (ooh, thats a word i dont use in the pub).

"Condescending" has been the top word on the forum for weeks now.

and people dont just talk to eachother they "address" one another.

I notice certain people doing this a lot and to me it makes them seem like unsavoury toffee nosed gimps. If my mates in the pub started pulling fancy words i would just laugh at them.

Do all people on the net feel its necessary to eat a dictionary for breakfast then start spewing up fancy words allover the place?

I write the same way as I talk in real life. Just because someone uses more eloquent speech does mean you should laugh at them. You likely do not have mates that speak this way, thus it seems pretty strange to you.

It has nothing to do with superiority, people really do speak like this.
Lets face it in a south shields pub your not exactly going to find people like this. It is the norm to talk about which chick you did last week or how drunk you were at the weekend, not discuss/debate anything in detail.

If anything posters like Sequelia who do have a very good grasp of the English language and get their points out succinctly should be admired not laughed at. I know my grammer/spelling is not as good as it should be.
In real life I would take the **** out of my mates if they said made grammer mistakes that sounded really wrong, likewise they would with me.