Last night, I had a lengthy conversation with a rather interesting brunette. A few hours into this exchange, she said something to me that a fair few others have also said to me in the past;
"Why do you use so many big words at times? I feel like you are intentionally trying to confuse me."
This perhaps makes her sound rather dumb, but I can assure you that she was very smart, and bursting with witticism-- which is not a trait of low-intellectual beings in my experience.
In the past, when someone has asked me the same thing, I have neglected to provide a meaningful response. Mostly because I judged them as unable to comprehend my reasoning the moment they asked the question. Last night has shown me how much of a mistake this may have been.
With her having demonstrated her cognitive abilities before posing the question, for the first time, I actually felt inclined to answer. I believe that my explanation was exceedingly adequate and did an excellent job of dispelling any notions that I may have been acting out of pomposity. I would like to share my response with you all today, for I feel that it may be beneficial towards helping others to see language in a new light.
The Importance of Vocabulary
Think of words as Lego. For each word you know, you have one piece of Lego. Each piece is different in shape and size, to represent its uniqueness. Now imagine that you have to build something with your Legos. Let's say for example- a landscape.
Those who have a limited vocabulary, and thus a limited selection of building blocks, will have a very difficult time adding the finer details to their landscape. Even if they were to use every single block in the most creative and innovative ways, their structure could be bettered by someone who had five times the amount of building blocks, and half the creativity.
In the mind of such a person, they would feel that they have done their best work and could never improve upon it, regardless of how many times they tried. But this is because they see only what they achieved using their box of Lego, and fail to envision what they might be able to build if they possessed another box.
Now, obviously I am not talking about building Lego landscapes here. This is not what words are for. But, I am not talking about what many of you will likely have assumed either. I do not mean to say that a better vocabulary is beneficial because it allows you to communicate with others more efficiently. It doesn't, if they do not know what the words you are saying mean. What it does do, however, is enrich your imagination and your quality and clarity of thought.
We can drop the analogy now. Legos are now words, and the landscape we were constructing, can now be an idea which you are building and refining on the forefront of your mind.
While doing this, every word you have at your disposal is yet another tool that will aide you in conceptualizing that idea. The better understanding you have of the words you are using, and of their synonyms, the more choices you have available to you in your developmental process. What is perhaps even more significant, is that you will also be able to think on the intricacies of your idea with far greater clarity.
In simple terms;
We think using language. Therefor, the capacity, breadth and lucidity of one's thought, is determined by the vocabulary that they possess.
Later that night...
That was rather deep and possibly even a tad boring, so allow me to share a painfully hilarious moment that occurred later on. I am not sure if it is something you had to be there for, but it had us both in stitches for a minute, so let's see if it is able to give you a good laugh too.
Having discovered that my obscure language was a little bothersome to her, I couldn't help but be Scott. During a beautifully heated moment of kissing, when I was sure that her mind was now absent of any memory of what we had previously been talking about... I took my lips away from hers, moved them up to her ear, and whispered;
"Evidently, the time has arrived for me to alleviate your anatomy of these undergarments."
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