Bad WordsFollow

You should calm down a bit. Here, would you like something to drink? Perhaps a coke?

HAHA I infected you!

I'm perfectly willing to accept new slang as valid. And if words were simply disappearing from the language altogether, you would have a point about them simply being phased out. But they're not. Words that we don't use here in the U.S. are still a part of the language, we're simply not availing ourselves of them. We're dipping into only 3/4 of the "vocabulary pool."

I haven't had time to deal with this in any depth today and don't anticipate being able to really get into it for at least a few days, but a basic wiki search reveals that the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, includes over 600,000 words, whereas Websters Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, only includes about 450,000 words. Of course, both of these dictionaries are subject to various updates since their respective publications, and then there's the ever-growing pool of slang which makes its way into the language, but that's a pretty damn big difference. While this is not necessarily evidence of linguistic "downsizing" in the U.S. as such, I do think it emphasizes my (admittedly anecdotal) point about the differences in the range of vocabulary and expressiveness seen between Brits and Americans of roughly the same education level and ability.

On the whole, we here in the U.S. are simply NOT learning the full range of vocabulary that is being learned in other English-speaking countries. Yeah, we're adding slang and technical expressions, but, for instance, our range of adjectives is typically much smaller and less nuanced. An American might describe something as blue, whereas a Brit might use cerulean or cyan or azure. An American might say a person is "sad" whereas a Brit might just as easily go for "despondent" or "dispirited." These differences are, I think, quite self-evident just listening to one versus the other. Listen, for example, to an interview of an American actor as opposed to an interview with a British actor. Listen for the number of times the American repeats an adjective while the Brit chooses a synonym.

We dumb ourselves down on purpose. We choose simpler words to avoid being perceived as intellectual. We boost our test scores in the schools by simplifying the vocabulary covered on a vocabulary test, rather than teaching the more advanced vocabulary effectively. We write our newspapers so that they can be read by people with a 6th grade education, and then those with the 6th grade educations congratulate themselves for being educated enough to read a newspaper. In the U.S. being educated--and speaking as an educated person would do--is often seen as a detriment. I've personally witnessed a child being scolded by her mother for using "big words." I shit you not. The child used the word correctly, and the mother then proceeded to admonish her that if she didn't use smaller words, the other children wouldn't want to play with her because they wouldn't be able to understand her. I don't remember the word or the context, but I do remember it wasn't actually that big a word.

In the U.S. we cater to the lowest common denominator. It's just that simple.


Edited, Jun 1st 2009 12:09am by Ambrya

An joke, even.

So your language isn't being destroyed at all. Your country is just not teaching it adequately. That's fine. It's not what you said initially, but it is a much better point.

I know you said this yourself, but your entire position on this subject seems anecdotal. I mean, I've heard people express this exact same conviction, except in regards to the Australian education system. I've heard British people complain about how dumb their children are. We get just as many stupid Brits as we do stupid Americans and stupid Australians. I think you're just focusing on the stupid Americans because you see more of them, maybe because you've previously worked in the American education system.

All I can really say is that this problem you're identifying isn't solely an American problem. And while it is definitely a problem, it has nothing to do with the correct or incorrect pronunciations or spellings of certain words. It's simply that your country's children are not being adequately taught commonly accepted linguistic conventions. It has very little to do with whether or not we spell colour as color. Your country is just failing to teach people that they should write color and not kulor.

It's also mistaken to draw a connection between verbosity and intelligence. I've met some extremely loquacious people who were total idiots, and some of the smartest teachers I've ever had have worked very hard to present their subject matter in clear, unambiguous terms.

Edited, Jun 1st 2009 8:35am by zepoodle

There is a connecton between vocabulary and intelligence. I doubt it's much different in the English speaking world. There are intelligence tests that only determine the subject's vocabulary and studies have shown that the score in those is in most cases higher when the overall IQ is higher, as well. It's not always a correct means to measure a person's intelligence but a correlation has been found.

As for anti-intellectualism, it's going pretty strong in Germany, too, but we take the future intellectual elite out of the normal school system after Year 4. In my state, we have two elite state schools and two public schools -- both of those are relatively unexpensive; the fees are capped at some €5,000 a year.
We also have less elitist schools (starting at Year 5 or 7 depending on state/school) that still provide very good preparation for college (since colleges a part of these schools) and the kids who haven't good enough grades for those go on to normal schools.
For the elite schools, most of the children are from academical families and/or of higher birth, but not every noble child gets in on higher education (what with three applicants being rejected), and the ones who do attend better schools end up with better career choices most of the time.
So while the system is far from perfect, at least upper class children and prodigies are sufficiently educated.
And most of the ones on other schools don't want to learn as much anyways.

ETA: I've learned most of my English vocabulary from books, Internet fora and videogames. My pronounciation tends to be Shite for a lot of words, but my spelling is alright, I think.

Edited, Jun 1st 2009 2:23pm by Kalivha

Thank you. I hate people not telling me when I make mistakes.

What's wrong with "utilize?" It's a perfectly cromulent word.

How the **** did I get roped into this?

BT isn't bilingual.

You're the one that asked chief, and since it happened extremely recently and Kavekk was there, I don't think it's that much of a stretch.

Ahhh well then that clears up my confusion.

Cos honestly, I had no idea what you were getting at.