Sounding Like a Professor: Why?

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31 Mar 2010, 6:21 pm

I am a pedant.
My father called me pedantic, yet I know very little English words (off-topic, but it makes sense to me).
I have memorised the definition of pedant as seen on Wikipedia: a person who is overly concerned with formality and precision, or who makes a show of his learning.
I fit both those criteria.
My mother also has a thing for correcting people in speech.
I used to do this very often and it was great fun.
I do not have much in depth knowledge or understanding of the fundamental concepts of things, but I do know lots of facts.
Most are just for ease, like that the Mauser M98 is the most popular bolt-action rifle and that the Consolidated B-24 Liberator is the most produced bomber plane and that the Bockscar B-29 carried the Fat Man over Nagasaki and dropped it and the Enola Gay B-29 dropped the Hiroshima Little Boy on 3 and 6 August 1945.
I also spout theories about things.
This brings me great joy.
I also tend to spout jokes.
But that is my social battle technique, not unlike Pelipper.
I use Stockpile and then I use Spit Up.

Rocky
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01 Apr 2010, 4:07 pm

ursaminor wrote:

I hate to hear or read statements that are erroneous unless someone points out the error. If I am the one to do so, I usually try to be diplomatic about it. Grammatical and spelling errors are so common, that I don't usually point them out, but they bother me a little. I do correct them in my head.

I am not familiar with Pelipper, Stockpile or Split Up.

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Rocky
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01 Apr 2010, 4:12 pm

Descartes wrote:

I always try to sound professional in my speech whenever I'm around teachers or other authoritative figures; whenever I'm around friends my own age I speak a little more casually.

I refuse to condescend myself by writing in that hell-spawned "textspeak" because, unlike most other people my age, I don't find the prospect of sounding like an illiterate dumbass to be appealing.

I may have overstated my tendencies in this regard, but I do try to adjust the level of being formal to the situation. I usually means I don't say much in less formal conversations. I assume textspeak is the abbreviated way people write when using miniatue keyboards. I fear for the younger generations that they will eventually end up communicating only on that limited level.

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Who_Am_I
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01 Apr 2010, 4:54 pm

I have spent much more time reading than conversing. Thus, many of my speech patterns are taken from written rather than spoken English. If you sound like a book, you will sound more professor-like.

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01 Apr 2010, 5:18 pm

Who_Am_I wrote:

I have spent much more time reading than conversing. Thus, many of my speech patterns are taken from written rather than spoken English. If you sound like a book, you will sound more professor-like.

Good point! I know someone who has a huge vocabulary, but because she gets her vocabulary from reading, often mispronounces certain words.

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Who_Am_I
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01 Apr 2010, 5:45 pm

Rocky wrote:

Who_Am_I wrote:

I have spent much more time reading than conversing. Thus, many of my speech patterns are taken from written rather than spoken English. If you sound like a book, you will sound more professor-like.

Good point! I know someone who has a huge vocabulary, but because she gets her vocabulary from reading, often mispronounces certain words.

I understand that. I can spell far more words than I can pronounce.

pensieve
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01 Apr 2010, 6:30 pm

I don't. I do tell people long winded facts but not by using big words they can't understand.

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01 Apr 2010, 6:43 pm

Because it's better to sound like a professor, than it is, to sound like a Valley Girl. :twisted:

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02 Apr 2010, 4:47 am

pensieve wrote:

I don't. I do tell people long winded facts but not by using big words they can't understand.

I do try to estimate the vocabulary of the person to whom I am talking and use words which will communicate most effectively. What I dislike is the idea that anyone should limit themselves in every conversation to the lowest size vocabulary. As silly as this sounds, I get the feeling that some do so to avoid seeming pedantic. If I am talking to someone and they use a word I don't understand, I don't hesitate to say so.

I do not think anyone should use any obscure words in order to show off. My main aim is effective communication.

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02 Apr 2010, 4:52 am

CockneyRebel wrote:

Because it's better to sound like a professor, than it is, to sound like a Valley Girl. :twisted:

I would certainly tend to prefer conversing with someone who sounds like a professor than someone who sounds like a Valley Girl. I may be prejudging but I suspect the professor type would have more interesting things to say.

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ShadesOfMe
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02 Apr 2010, 7:53 am

Sometimes when we sounds like that I think we come off as condescending, which isn't intended at all.

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02 Apr 2010, 7:58 am

I used to sound like a little professor when I was about seven, and I was able to spell big words. But when I was asked why I was so good at spelling, all I could say was,
"I don't know".

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03 Apr 2010, 12:50 am

I am / was in fact a professor, grew up under parents who talked academic when they talked, each of them child of a lawyer. So that is how I talk.

POINT: I assure you, most of today's professors do not talk like professors. Some are heavy jargon users, but a lot are far too folksy even when lecturing to sound like the professor image that dates back to when the university was a place for scholars, many of whom would be recognized as near Aspie.

POINT: I vary. Talking to some people I don't know well or talking about a SUBJECT to my intimates I go very traditional academic. Talking to many strangers or lecturing in the classroom [to students with whom I am not that intimate] I go loose, pseudofolk.

POINT: But if I get talking about one of my things I am likely to drift into old-style academic [but not jargon].

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03 Apr 2010, 1:04 am

ShadesOfMe wrote:

Sometimes when we sounds like that I think we come off as condescending, which isn't intended at all.

I agree. Really being condescending would mean I feel superior to the person I am speaking with. I may have a better vocabulary than someone I encounter, but that does not make me superior. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but we are all equal in value as a human being.

I also understand that the content of what a person says is more important than the way they say it.

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03 Apr 2010, 1:11 am

AppleCat wrote:

I used to sound like a little professor when I was about seven, and I was able to spell big words. But when I was asked why I was so good at spelling, all I could say was,
"I don't know".

I think Socrates said something to the effect that a wise person will admit that they don't know everything. If you asked the most knowledgeable person who researches the mind, he would admit that he doesn't know (for certain) either.

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03 Apr 2010, 1:25 am

Philologos wrote:

Dr. Asperger may have been using a phrase which perpetuates a stereotype. It is hard to know without reading the original German (not that I would be capable of doing so.) I probably should have used the word "Pedantic" but ironically, not everyone knows that word. I do try to avoid using words that are not in common use on web forums, if possible. I often spell out common web abbreviations for that reason. I am sure I have a smaller vocabulary of emoticons and acronyms than many on this forum.

Your points are well taken. It sounds like you try to adjust your speaking style to the situation and audience. I try to so too. I may not be as successful as you have been, but I think I have been improving through the years.

I guess my original point was that most everyday conversation is so informal and trivial, that anything else often sounds to the listener as being overly formal. Using an unusual word which is more precise might cause this effect in the listener.

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