Interesting and useful words
Discussion
k.
L555BAT said:
sophistry
the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
Hence why "sophisticated" isn't necessarily a compliment, though that subtlety is probably now considered archaic because ggnnrrrr ...the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
English's colossal vocabulary allows otherwise redundant words to be differentiated by allowing them to evolve subtle distinctions. Rather than viewing that as sophistry we ought to embrace it. Many of us might not be able to trot out a dictionary definitions that distinguish royal, regal and kingly, but we know the difference instinctively. The first two derive from the same Latin root, the latter from Anglo-Saxon. The additional meaning English has added is what makes them all useful.
If a hurricane lays waste an island, to me that feels more final than saying it was devastated, yet the former is the direct translation of the root of the latter.
Sometimes however it does seem to me that we create non-distinctions out of pure snobbery. Saying someone is "deep" sounds less sophisticated than saying they are "profound". And it is. Because the words are synonyms. And "sophisticated" isn't a compliment. So there.
Doofus said:
Jerry Can said:
rantillion - One whose scrotum is so relaxed as to be longer than his penis, i. e. whose shot pouch is longer than the barrel of his piece
Rantallion.
I'm going to check myself out later, don't worry I won't report back.
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