On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 1:00:51 PM UTC-4, sf wrote:


> Those fancy French words are best left to the French, British and
>
> musicians. Americans hear a word pronounced "fort" and think of it as
>
> an abbreviation of fortification. If we mean it's not a "strong
>
> point", that's what we say...unless (of course) we're trying to
>
> demonstrate how cosmopolitan we are. Then it's foot in mouth.


"Best left to"?

If we all cared about being well-read and well-informed in general,
regardless of whether we had the chance to go to college or not, a lot
of not-so-long words wouldn't sound "cosmopolitan," just part of the
normal vocabulary of someone over 30 or even 20.

I seem to remember an article by a teacher that told of how a class
of teens in a middle-class(?) high school flatly refused to contemplate
the idea that one purpose of high school is to expand your vocabulary.
Quote (not verbatim) from a student: "If you people (adults) would only
talk like everyone else, we wouldn't need all those extra words."

Reminds me of how some people say that nowadays, the purpose of college
is to prove you have a high school education.

Lenona.