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Excessive Wordiness

Sometimes I get the impression that atheists hide behind a facade of intellectualism, by choosing longer than necessary words and/or sentences. For example we have "discussions" (three syllables) where MySpace has "threads" (one syllable).

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Grace Fitzpatrick on June 26, 2011 at 12:00pm

I think you're right. It's not just atheists who do it. I had a very good friend who loved to hide behind excess verbiage and long words. Most people didn't have a clue what she was saying and thought she was stuck up.
She was just really insecure and used large words in order to feel better about herself. Mainly, it just served to alienate people and didn't aid communication at all. She was a uber christian. Communication problems are universal.

Permalink Reply by Susi Bocks on June 26, 2011 at 12:56pm

There are some who might, but some just have an extensive vocabulary and don't know how to speak any different. And also, there are some who are on the other spectrum and use everyday, average language to make their point. As long as they are getting their point across, it doesn't matter to me how they convey it. I'm getting the impression you are saying they are coming off as arrogant, which could be the case, but what problem does that present if the message is coming across?

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on June 26, 2011 at 5:47pm

Sometimes excessive verbiage is interpreted as arrogance, and feeds the Arrogant Elitist Atheist stereotype. One thing I learned studying how to write fiction is that your writing gains power when you prune out the excess and speak succinctly. We often don't do that here at AN.

Permalink Reply by Dogly on June 26, 2011 at 7:01pm

Succinctness requires a good vocabulary.

Permalink Reply by Lary9 on June 26, 2011 at 8:48pm

I quite agree. In vocabulary, depth of reserves does not require mandatory deployment.

Permalink Reply by A3Kr0n on June 26, 2011 at 1:20pm

It's not just atheists. I also like the sign warning about sharp edges.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on June 26, 2011 at 5:48pm

So are you saying that the point gets lost in the verbiage?

Permalink Reply by A3Kr0n on June 26, 2011 at 2:37pm

Alysn, not to pull noodles from your bowl (I just made that up, good?), but that comment was very verbose!

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on June 26, 2011 at 5:55pm

But all of what you said was relevant, and *smile* self-deprecating humor is icing on the cake. I'm happy to have members contribute with Zork verbosity set to maximum compared to the hidden iceberg mass of lurkers, too shy to make themselves heard. You're *here* for us, adding new thoughts to our lives. They're hidden. You're easy to love, Alysn Ford.

Permalink Reply by Dogly on June 26, 2011 at 2:09pm

Have you read some of the "threads" on "MySpace"? There is a good reason they are not called "discussions".

Permalink Reply by Lary9 on June 26, 2011 at 11:04pm

My guess is it's because complete thoughts come in the form of whole cloth, not threads.

Permalink Reply by Dogly on June 26, 2011 at 2:26pm

Those who are intelligent, and have large vocabularies, should hide these qualities. I ain't sh***tin you!