I Can Already Tell You Dig Me
Daughter had a friend stay the night last night. Friend came over with her father, and we ended up talking for a bit. Somewhere in the conversation I got really lost. Friend's Father was talking computers, not exactly my specialty. He was talking all technical and numbers got involved. I didn't get it.
Lex: "Uh... Flux capacitor what?"
Friend's Father: "Ah, so you're one of those huh? Not exactly tech savvy?" He was grinning in his gloriously superior computer knowledge.
Lex: "Well, no, not really." But that wasn't enough, my defensive pride proceeded to explain away my ignorance. "It's not that I can't, it just violates my Efficiency of Relationships theorem. I always end up falling for the computer geek, meaning there is pretty much always someone around to fix those sorts of issues. So, I never bothered to learn much about computers save how to restart. One thing I do know is that you're using unneccessarily confusing multi-syllabic words to impress me. "
Friend's Father: "No I'm not." Ah-ha! I wasn't the only one with defensive pride. But his was a weaker form than mine. Laughing, he let his guard down. "Actually, yeah, I am."
He was so honest about it, I really respected that. I laughed and told him I was tech-tarded, and he needed to talk down to me. He obliged and now Blackberry technology makes sense. Finally.
Lex: "Uh... Flux capacitor what?"
Friend's Father: "Ah, so you're one of those huh? Not exactly tech savvy?" He was grinning in his gloriously superior computer knowledge.
Lex: "Well, no, not really." But that wasn't enough, my defensive pride proceeded to explain away my ignorance. "It's not that I can't, it just violates my Efficiency of Relationships theorem. I always end up falling for the computer geek, meaning there is pretty much always someone around to fix those sorts of issues. So, I never bothered to learn much about computers save how to restart. One thing I do know is that you're using unneccessarily confusing multi-syllabic words to impress me. "
Friend's Father: "No I'm not." Ah-ha! I wasn't the only one with defensive pride. But his was a weaker form than mine. Laughing, he let his guard down. "Actually, yeah, I am."
He was so honest about it, I really respected that. I laughed and told him I was tech-tarded, and he needed to talk down to me. He obliged and now Blackberry technology makes sense. Finally.
posted by Lex Fori at
9:33 AM
1 Comments:
I've noticed a few occasions--mostly since law school started-- where people have transparently and deliberately used words that they've learned (perhaps straight from dictionaries) in order to impress and even embarass others.
Maybe it's simply bdcause I have little trouble feeling inferior, but I often feel comfortable just saying "I don't know what that word means," or "I don't understand."
I find that I'm usually not the only one in a conversation who is ignorant of the meaning of these obscure words. People appreciate your honesty, and usually don't think less of you anyway,
By
wt, at 9:22 PM
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