Nonsense that the Learned Believed

[M.D. Holloway]

I remember reading about a speech that someone gave to a hall full of scholars. His speech was riddled with terms and words that were not common, some were made up. If you analysized it you would be hard pressed to get anything out of it. It was a farce and he did this to make a point. It was met with fantastic reviews, the scholars raved about it.

Has anyone ever heard of this?

Care to share any examples of this?

[rrpjr]

Good story. Years ago I read about a writer named Alexa Jones who'd submitted a short story to a contest sponsored by a femininst journal. Ms. Jones won the award with "her penetrating and sympathetic insights into the female heart." But it turned out Alexa was Alex. A man had won the woman-only contest. The outraged feminists -- the same who'd judged him the winner -- snatched his prize away. But he proved his point -- good writing is good writing.

[RoninLB]

Congressional bs

[Z-man]

True story:

There's a guy here at work who seems intent on proving his intellecutal prowess by flattering everyone with big words. Being the 'dumb bunny' that I am, I often question the meaning of those words. He gives me that 'you're a dumb bunny' look and then proceeds to spell the word and give a definition.

Upon returning to my desk, I log on to webster.com only to find in many cases his word doesn't exsist, or that he is using said word in the wrong context. Often his word is a noun that is embellished with prefixes and suffixes that make no sense. So, who's the dumb bunny now?!
(He will still argue that his word is correct. )

I am a big fan of the keep it simple method of vocabulary: the word "USE" is more than adequate and doesn't need to be replaced with the word: "UTILIZE."

Have a splendiferous day,
-Z-man.

[dhoward]

If I hear the term proactive one more time, I'm going to puke.

[billyboy]

If you want to find many good examples of nonsense that the "learned scholars" believe, take a close look at the radical environmental movement.Talk about a bunch of of unsupported BS that has no basis in true science. These guys love to hear themselves spout new "facts" about the state of the world.Frequently these chaps like to remind the rest of us just how learned they are. There is one that frequents these boards, often dropping not so subtle hints about his degrees and other paper accomplishments.

[legion]

I don't mind using big words and hearing them when they are more precise than the common word.

The buzzword around here that took me forever to understand is the word "metric". It can mean either a measurement, or the method by which something is measured. Because it has two very similar and related, yet different meanings it is less precise than using the word "measurement" or the term "how to measure". For example, if someone asks me "Do you have those metrics?", they might be asking if I have some data, or if I have decided how to go about sampling the data. I never use the term.

[Superman]

Hope that's not me. I have taken to using "perhaps" in place of "maybe" because it sounds better. I am also slowly moving away from "okay" toward "very well." Again, these sound better. I do not use high-fallutin' words much, but I do occasionally because of the specific meaning I am after. Unfortunately, I have a fairly big vocabulary. Again, I will only use a $100 word if I need to because of its specific meaning.

And yeah, I have my pet peeves. For some reason, I hate the word "problematic." Also, when you use the word "patronize," I expect the pronunciation to be different, depending on which of the two main meanings you are applying.

And finally, I think perhaps some of you should look hard at your disdain for educated people. Sure, some educators without real world experience are out of touch. And yeah, most of them disagree with your politics and so you are inclined to deprecate them a bit. But if you are going to publicly discuss your generalization that they are somehow mentally challenged, or underinformed or whatever, then first I suggest you consider how your message will be received. Folks who think just like you, and who listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News might not see a problem or an irony. And of course you could care less about what lefties think. But there are middle-of-the-road folks out there. Lots of them. And when they hear you declare the most educated people in the world to be a bunch of idiots........well..........

It's an interesting position. This assertion that higher education people, and news media professional, don't know anything. Hmmmmm..... Parts of your audience are going to take this information and use it to make some assumptions about you.

[BoxerRep53]

Originally posted by dhoward
If I hear the term proactive one more time, I'm going to puke.

Would that be a reactive puke or a proactive puke?

[dhoward]

re-active.
I may however, proactively puke as I contemplate hearing this STUPID sentence..."We are proactively researching the cause of the server failures..."
WTF? IT ALREADY FAILED, YOU CONSULTANT MORON!!!
Happy Friday!

[billyboy]

And finally, I think perhaps some of you should look hard at your disdain for educated people. Sure, some educators without real world experience are out of touch. And yeah, most of them disagree with your politics and so you are inclined to deprecate them a bit. But if you are going to publicly discuss your generalization that they are somehow mentally challenged, or underinformed or whatever, then first I suggest you consider how your message will be received. Folks who think just like you, and who listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News might not see a problem or an irony. And of course you could care less about what lefties think. But there are middle-of-the-road folks out there. Lots of them. And when they hear you declare the most educated people in the world to be a bunch of idiots........well..........

I don't know if that was aimed at me, but I have no disdain for educated people. I have disdain for people who chose to ignore truth and use their titles as license to advance their agendas when their agendas are not supported by facts. I have disdain for people who hear or read stuff in media and take it for truth because somebody appears to know what they are talking about. Footnotes in media would be a great improvement. I'm not sure if you know what my politics are since they vary by the subject.

[azasadny]

Just listen to Deepak Chopra or Donald Rumsfeld if you want to hear nonsense.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by rrpjr
The outraged feminists -- the same who'd judged him the winner -- snatched his prize away

And the pun of the week award goes to...

[Superman]

No Bill. I was not pointing my remarks at anyone, least of all you. But there are folks here who assert that all the media organizations in the world are lying liberal communes and that only Fox News is objective. They go on to say that Billy-Bob with a fifth grade education and hatred of gays and commies understands how the world works far better than any university professor. And is a better Christian, too. They seem to honestly believe that universities, pretty much all of them, are so intent on indoctrination that they fail to educate and do more harm than good. Sometimes, this place is Through the Looking Glass.

I'm just warning them....again.....that the world thinks of media professionals as "informed," and it thinks of college professors as "educated." This concept seems complex for some.

[tabs]

I wish they would snatch my prize.....

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Superman


I'm just warning them....again.....that the world thinks of media professionals as "informed," and it thinks of college professors as "educated." This concept seems complex for some.

Me thinks you give too much credit to a label. With each passing year I am reminded more that there is an almost equal ratio of idiots in all professions/persuasions.

[tabs]

Supe your stereo typing conservatives....

[bryanthompson]

They go on to say that Billy-Bob with a fifth grade education and hatred of gays and commies understands how the world works far better than any university professor.

Your use of "billy-bob" shows your elitest attitude, also by assuming that they hate gays you show your own disdain for the truth. I would say that middle-america knows a hell of a lot more about how 'the world works' than the majority of professors. How many professors have ever had a real job? Not very many. They get tenure, and sit in their comfortable towers feeling as if they are better than everyone else. It's the elitest attitude they have, and you have, that says the most about them.

Nope, can't question them. Their degree costed more money and took more time. They must be smarter and better than everyone else. How dare us little peons think for ourselves.

[tabs]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
I remember reading about a speech that someone gave to a hall full of scholars. His speech was riddled with terms and words that were not common, some were made up. If you analysized it you would be hard pressed to get anything out of it. It was a farce and he did this to make a point. It was met with fantastic reviews, the scholars raved about it.



Care to share any examples of this?

I've done Bad, Bad things on tyhis Board.....

[Dantilla]

Scott Adams, the author of "Dilbert" pretended to be a consultant a few years back to prove a point.

He was brought in to help a company come up with their new mission statement. His goal? To make it as complicated and meaningless as possible to demonstrate how many lemmings there are in management positions. The final result was incredibly complicated and meaningless. Lots of the latest buzzwords. And it got complete "buy-in" from the lemmings that helped create it. They sat around the table feeling like they accomplished something great until Mr. Adams revealed himself, and asked them to explain the new mission statement.