how the hell did you get this job?

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:56 am

Panacea I knew forever, couldn't tell you when I learned it. Oxymoron I learned in grade 11, and while postmodern was a word familiar to me for a long time I only really learned what postmodernism assumes last year.

godix · Post by **godix** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:06 am

madbunny wrote:Oxymoron

I've known this for so long that I can not even remember learning it.

PostModern

This one I question using to test people. It's correct meaning really depends on the context. Postmodern literature, postmodern architecture, postmodern music, and postmodern art are not the same things although they all have similar features. Also the term can be used as just meaning a time frame which is a lot more loose definition than if you use it to describe an art style. So without knowing which exact meaning of postmodern you were after I'd probably end up not in the 'correct' category.

Panacea

This is one of those words I encounter so rarely that I have to sit and think for a couple seconds to remember it. Although if I heard it in a sentance the context would probably jar my memory a lot quicker than that. Most people I know will use placebo instead of panacea even though the terms aren't interchangeable. I guess the thinking is a placebo can appear to work on anything so in a kinda sorta way a placebo is a panacea. Either that or they just don't know what placebo really means.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:18 am

I must admit to being familiar with all three.

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:53 am

madbunny wrote:Panacea

Panacea are those little white elements in chrono cross that heal any status effect!

Yeah, I'm sure I knew the word before I played CC, but after playing it I'd never forget the word. I usually replace it with "cure-all" in spoken dialogue just to sound more casual. I don't think I've ever used the word panacea outside of Chrono Cross discussions. It's a word for text, not random speech.

The "PostModern" one I don't want to know. I remember pretending to study something about that in one of my history/literature/art-all rolled into one classes. I didn't like it. It was boring as crap. We had to sit still taking notes while he droned on for hours and hours about nothing interesting. I assume PostModern refers to a field after some modernist movement takes place and changes things just because Post = after. I have a vague memory of those "crap and urine on a canvas" art being considered PostModern, but I could have learned that wrong. Eck. It's an artsy culture word with bad connotations in my memorybank.

Oxymoron was an elementary grammar word. I remember loving it from the very first because it was so easy to remember - to say "that's an oxymoron!" was insulting the statement rather than the speaker. I think the little 'memory joke' was that the statement was moronic because the words oxy'd each other out. Unfortunately that was years ago - now my mother's the only one I can use that word with in casual conversation without getting a puzzled look.

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:00 am

Truly, this is a sad day for me.

I think I need to redeem myself somehow.
You guys, give me three new words, and I'll quiz some teachers myself.
Something that would be normal to use in a sentance, but that you've gotten the puzzled look for using.

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:21 am

madbunny wrote:You guys, give me three new words, and I'll quiz some teachers myself.
Something that would be normal to use in a sentance, but that you've gotten the puzzled look for using.

Droll.

I have a million of them myself, but that's because I live in the boonies surrounded by people who dropped out of highschool. It's not their fault they aren't used to hearing words they've never even seen in writing.

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:11 am

I knew all three, though I double checked on panacea because besides for video games I've almost never seen the word in writing or heard it in speech.

As far as post modern, I agree with the context thing. I've personally always defined it as the attitude that is basically the civilized world anymore. What's the point, why am I here, my existence no longer revolves around merely surviving so now what do I do, I must go define myself through Myspace or by achieving fame and riches, etc. Essentially, post WWI/I.

madbunny wrote:You guys, give me three new words, and I'll quiz some teachers myself. Something that would be normal to use in a sentance, but that you've gotten the puzzled look for using.

My problem is that I get tongued tied and my thoughts run faster than my mouth does, so words get juxtaposed or I've already moved on. I also mumble and 'um' all the time because if I'm put on the spot and not relaxed in their company, I'll stand there and search for the proper words, which by that time they've given up on me.

Of course, this is when I actually open my mouth to talk. I rarely do this. I'm great for listening, I'll sit there all day if your someone I don't already know and haven't heard your personality laid out and on the cutting board. So of course my manner of speech is the same way I type online, and therefore I rarely bother with big words unless the concept I'm trying to express calls for them. Nor does it help I also live out in the boonies, and besides occasionally Oto, I almost never hear college level speech.

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:17 am

Arigatomina wrote:
madbunny wrote:You guys, give me three new words, and I'll quiz some teachers myself.
Something that would be normal to use in a sentance, but that you've gotten the puzzled look for using.
Droll.

Every time I see this used, the sentence/context would be the same if you substituted dull, but when I look it up, I get, "having a humorous, whimsical, or odd quality" and to substitute any word like that into the sentence would change the description.

godix · Post by **godix** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:19 am

madbunny wrote:Truly, this is a sad day for me.

I think I need to redeem myself somehow.
You guys, give me three new words, and I'll quiz some teachers myself.
Something that would be normal to use in a sentance, but that you've gotten the puzzled look for using.

Pedantic.
Mongoloid (bonus points it they realize it has another meaning besides downs syndrome).
Narcissism.

Yes, all three are words I use on a fairly regular basis.

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:01 am

Orwell wrote:Every time I see this used, the sentence/context would be the same if you substituted dull, but when I look it up, I get, "having a humorous, whimsical, or odd quality" and to substitute any word like that into the sentence would change the description.

Isn't it great? I love using that word to describe expressions, but no one ever knows what it means. It's one of my favorite words. So small, so misunderstood and misrepresented. And when you say it out loud you get a "say what?" because most people have never heard it spoken.