this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Similarly I got accused of plagiarism in ninth grade on a 3 page essay, because I used big words.

This was before the days of the internet. I suppose I could have used something like Encarta, but I don’t even remember if you could copy and paste into ClarisWorks from it, and it was about a fictional book we’d read anyway.

My brother got accused by the same teacher 3 years later. He had an even better vocabulary than me and went on to study theoretical physics.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I had so many experiences like that. I was a voracious reader as a kid. I was reading books in English (my second language) about topics such as aeronautics and space exploration. I was reading far, far above the level of any classmates. And that lead persisted all through college.

Every time a new teacher would give us an essay assignment, I’d get called out to stay after class once they graded it. And they’d casually accuse me of plagiarism.

My usual response? Quiz me, right the fuck now, on any paragraph you want from that 20 page paper. And ask me the definition of any word you’re unfamiliar with. That shut them up right quick.

A large vocabulary is its own reward, but not so much when those who’re supposed to teach you are lacking in that department.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

My reading journey mirrors yours. When I entered the professional workforce, I was consistently met with vacant stares when I'd use whatever words I thought perfectly fit whatever I was describing. I came to find that using "big" words like that (examples I can recall: superfluous, inimical, vacuous, cogent, avuncular) made people think I was trying to show I was better than them. I had to pare my verbal vocabulary back to the most basic form so I could do my actual job.

Granted, I was in a "white collar" job surrounded by blue collar folks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago

I understood three of the five big words. :3