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Post by webster52402 on Oct 22, 2008 18:13:22 GMT
Hahaha... We really need to work on your vocabulary. ;D
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Post by Simmo33 on Oct 22, 2008 18:31:00 GMT
Come on! You've been alive for five more years than me!
I have a...*thinks*...good...vocabulary.
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Post by webster52402 on Oct 22, 2008 18:51:57 GMT
I knew the word 'Imbue' by the time I was in fifth grade, Simmo. Though that may be because I was somewhat of a child progeny and avid reader at that time, but still. Working on it will eventually drill the rest of the more... superfluous, but descriptive and sometimes quite useful... vocabulary into that skull of yours. No excuses!
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Post by FC4 on Oct 22, 2008 18:59:33 GMT
You don't have to have a huge vocabulary, though. I consider it an admirable trait of mine that while I do not understand the more upper-class vocabulary I should for my intelligence, I understand them enough to translate it into idiot speak. So unlike most nerds, I can speak the language of dumbass fluently, but struggle slightly with the language of nerds.
I glared at one kid senior year every time he spoke. He made me want to pull out a dictionary/thesaurus whenever he spoke, as it least three out of every ten words I recognized, but only barely knew the meaning of.
What matters isn't your vocabulary database, but your language skills; your ability to break down words to divine their relative meaning.
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Post by Redsrock on Oct 22, 2008 20:49:46 GMT
Exactly. My vocabulary is VERY limited unfortunately, but I've found a way to get around that for the most part.
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Post by webster52402 on Oct 22, 2008 20:52:33 GMT
Ah, but that ruins the eloquence... True mastery of vocabulary is to be able to speak the most difficult of words fluently, and to be able to bring them down to a level to be understood universally as well. Being able to switch between the aristocratic ramblings of the super-intelligent, and the common day-to-day talk of layman...
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Post by Redsrock on Oct 22, 2008 21:16:42 GMT
This is just me...but I would rather have an awesome story written by someone whose vocab isn't great, than someone who tells an awful story but doesn't realize that because they're too stuck up with all the big words they use. This isn't meant towards you in any way, but that's just how I fee. *shrug*
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Post by FC4 on Oct 22, 2008 23:27:18 GMT
Ah, but that ruins the eloquence... True mastery of vocabulary is to be able to speak the most difficult of words fluently, and to be able to bring them down to a level to be understood universally as well. Being able to switch between the aristocratic ramblings of the super-intelligent, and the common day-to-day talk of layman... I am close to this level. However, my vocabulary has NEVER been very good, I even had tutoring in my writing and vocabulary skills in the 5th grade. If anything, I am the in-between of the snooty high-end speaking and the low-end street smack. I'm not eloquent in either, but I can manage well enough.
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Post by DarkNova50 on Oct 23, 2008 0:36:32 GMT
Hmm...I suppose a reasonable argument can be made for either side. Even poets in centuries past have often squabbled over the use of their vocabulary.
For you see, comrades, there were those among the highest echelon of matters regarding education that felt a more elevated vocabulary, a poetic diction, if you will, served to enhance that which they wrote. They felt that such language was a means to elevate their literature into the stratum of the sublime...and that to do otherwise was beneath them.
And then y'all got some poets and writer types, that felt all them big words were nothin' but a lil ol nuisance. Why bother writin' everything ya got in yer noggin in a bunch of gobbly gook ain't nobody gonna understand? They were more 'bout using whatcha call plain language, so they could say what they were gonna say to the common man, ya know? Yee haw!
In either case, I'd say a good deal of what determines what kind of vocabulary you're going to use depends on your audience and what you're writing. People use alot more complicated language, I think, in essays and the like. But there's certainly nothing wrong with using more common language...as long as it's appropriate to the situation.
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Post by Simmo33 on Oct 23, 2008 15:12:21 GMT
My vocabulary is pretty good compared to most of the people my age, but how do you expect me to know the meaning of a word I've never heard?
Anyway, I'm not even a mod and I'm telling you to get back on topic.
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Post by Redsrock on Oct 23, 2008 15:17:26 GMT
Anyway, I'm not even a mod and I'm telling you to get back on topic.But this is on topic, because we're talking about people's writing styles, which can potentially directly relate to the short stories themselves.
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Post by Simmo33 on Oct 23, 2008 15:38:19 GMT
Hmm...
Ok, ok.
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Post by Simmo33 on Oct 24, 2008 12:44:54 GMT
Got your story FC. Don't wan't to give anything away about how good any of the stories are though.
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Post by DarkNova50 on Oct 27, 2008 4:28:25 GMT
Hey guys. Just letting you know I don't think I'll be submitting anything for this contest. I've had the absolute worst case of writer's block recently, and I just can't seem to get anything worth mentioning down.
So, sorry, but I think I'm out on this one.
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Post by Simmo33 on Oct 27, 2008 9:56:09 GMT
That's fine don't worry about it.
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