Do We Understand All the Words We Use and Hear?

Have you ever felt compelled to rush to a dictionary after finishing a conversation? Not everyone knows the meaning of all the words they hear, and it's not uncommon for the person employing their use to know what he or she means, either. I spoke with a high school student who remarked that she was conversating with her friends. In this case, the seemingly "big" word she chose isn't even a word. She wanted to impress me with her vocabulary, that she was smarter than someone who was only talking with her friends. However, a person's intelligence is more about how they express themselves than the vocabulary they use.

People should respect themselves enough to only use language they're comfortable with, but there's nothing wrong with experimenting with higher level words as long as it is not done where first impressions matter such as an interview or meeting someone for the first time. People can come off as false if the misuse of a word is discovered, and no one likes to look bad. As for the person they're talking to, no one likes to be confused, and it's easier to give up on conversation than to struggle with complicated words. Here are some of those infamous words that are misused and cause confusion:

1. Juxtapose: To place side by side, especially to compare or contrast.
Professors talk about the juxtaposition of two works of literature, but on an interview a nervous candidate might recall how her cubicle at her old company was juxtaposed with the CEO's office in an attempt to show that she was high on the employee hierarchy and that she can use big words meaningfully. Unless she was comparing her salary level and her interviewer has a sense of humor, it does not go over well.

2. Exacerbate: To worsen or irritate (a person)
This word can find its way in a song simply for the fact that it rhymes with a popular physical urge. College roommates who get on each others' nerves may also accuse the other of "exacerbating" them, but the word cannot be used as an adjective.

3. Catharsis: Emotional release in drama and art OR purging of the bowels
I insisted to my boyfriend that a person cannot have a catharsis as a result of being sick.. Unbeknownst to me, catharsis has two meanings. Someone can undergo a catharsis from writing an emotional short story as well as finding themselves in the bathroom ridding themselves of the poison they ingested in their food.

4. Allusion: an indirect reference
This spelling is often confused with illusion, but the two meanings are very different. Often an allusion refers to something from the Bible. If there's a story where a woman tempts a man into doing something, he does it and is punished, you have an argument for an allusion to Adam and Eve. The only problem with this word is that many people are unclear about the references being made, so although the user knows what they're talking about, the recipient may not. High school students may not have read all the classics (and a lot of times classics are the works being alluded to) so teachers have to be careful when making references.

5. Quintessence: The embodiment of perfection
Although it has the root quint, meaning five, it has nothing to do with the number. Somewhere, an expectant father is bragging to his friends about the quintessens his wife and him are having. Although it's nice to see him viewing his unborn children as perfect, he's not defining the word the right way.

6. Assiduous: Hardworking or persevering
Naturally, a prospective employer likes to hear a candidate describe himself as assiduous. After all, who doesn't like a nine-to-fiver that works while his co-workers are having chicken wings at Hooters? The beginning of the word's similarity to a common insult could cause some confusion as to its pronunciation. While the nickname for a donkey (among other things) is pronounced with a short (a), the word that describes a good work ethic is pronounced like UH.

7. Penultimate: Next to last
Hopefully, your buddies will understand what you mean, and not take the sound of the printer spitting out the end notes page as a cue to celebrate. This isn't your last paper, but your next to last.

8. Caveat: A warning to prevent misinterpretation
A professor I had once wrote "A few caveats" on the syllabus so as to make students aware that this class should be taken seriously, and failure to do so would result in a lower grade. Unfortunately for Education professors, students tend to take the classes for granted, showing more respect towards the subject area courses. I'll admit that I'm one of those students, because graduate English courses are ten times more difficult than their undergraduate counterparts. Thankfully I looked this word up to know where he was coming from!

There are countless words that suffer misrepresentation, and hopefully there are people who are willing to defend their honor!

Sources:

Easily Confused or Misused Words
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0200807.html

The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English, Copyright 1999 Oxford University Press

People confused by big words