Huh. Apparently my community college is better than Yale at mock trials.

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HowDroll

HowDroll

Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
 
Cajungal

Cajungal

Staff member
HowDroll said:
Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
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You word snob, you.

Nice to see you again, Chronos!
 
C

Chronos[Ha-G]

HowDroll said:
Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
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Yeah, I loved ECC - I've never attended any other colleges, so I don't know how it truly compares to any others, but I always heard it was one of the best community colleges in the country.

And yeah, nice to see you again Cajun - life's been somewhat busy; I've missed the forums.
 
Rob King

Rob King

HowDroll said:
Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
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Same with my college. One of my profs deducted points every time I used an uncommon word. She told me I must have been using a thesaurus, and explained (a bit harshly) that you couldn't just swap one word for another.

I tried to show her that I had used every word correctly, and had weighed the meaning and connotations carefully before using each one. But it was no good. To this prof, anyone in her class was a worthless child, living in his parents' basement, just biding their time until control of the country is handed over, which would herald in an era where we have damned our society to hell.
 
R

rabbitgod

I'm not surprised. The only thing superior about Yale (and Harvard) is the price of tuition.

I went to a very good school for Anthropology and met people coming from all over. It always seemed that the more vaunted the institution the crappier the alumni. Including my school.

I'm not trying to discount these institutions, surely they do some things good.

But I'd say that most of the truly productive colleges are in that mid range. The community college I went to was orders of magnitude better at physical application of archaeology than the University.
 
C

chakz

Rob King;296074][quote=HowDroll said:
Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
Click to expand...
Same with my college. One of my profs deducted points every time I used an uncommon word. She told me I must have been using a thesaurus, and explained (a bit harshly) that you couldn't just swap one word for another.

I tried to show her that I had used every word correctly, and had weighed the meaning and connotations carefully before using each one. But it was no good. To this prof, anyone in her class was a worthless child, living in his parents' basement, just biding their time until control of the country is handed over, which would herald in an era where we have damned our society to hell.[/QUOTE]

Wow. That's pretty ridiculous. I had a similar experience although it was more positive than negative. The teacher occasionally couldn't tell whether I was using my thoughts or quoting a source without citing. I was satisfied with my grade so I didn't ask about it until the end at which point I simply took it as a compliment.
 
Wahad

Wahad

Rob King;296074][quote=HowDroll said:
Did you like ECC? I went to COD for a semester, and my mom and my brother both went there as well -- to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. I once got a B on a paper solely for using too many "hoity-toity" words, such as "endeavor."
Click to expand...
Same with my college. One of my profs deducted points every time I used an uncommon word. She told me I must have been using a thesaurus, and explained (a bit harshly) that you couldn't just swap one word for another.

I tried to show her that I had used every word correctly, and had weighed the meaning and connotations carefully before using each one. But it was no good. To this prof, anyone in her class was a worthless child, living in his parents' basement, just biding their time until control of the country is handed over, which would herald in an era where we have damned our society to hell.[/QUOTE]

Wow, what the balls?

My profs tell me to use simple words where you can, uncommon words where you can not. But that's just ridiculous.
 
Adam

Adam

I can see both ways using word usage.

On one side, you're supposed to write for your audience first and foremost. That means that a 5 dollar word is better than a 20 dollar word in 90% of your communication.

On the other side, your audience is university/college professors where you should be expected to broaden your lexicon beyond Time magazine and write to a level that more accurately communicates your point.

I still get harassed here at work for using words like 'juxtaposition'.
 
drifter

drifter

Using a 5 dollar word still doesn't help when most people are shopping at the dollar store :p
I remember this one time at college I brought a conversation to a standstill when I used the word "leery." It took me a couple minutes just to convince them it was an actual word.
 
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