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It’s always interesting to find out some people’s nicknames that they used to or still have and what is the story behind these names. Having this in mind, one Twitter user called @Lapsedcat decided to share the story of how he became known as “Mr Words” in the office by using the word “trebuchet”. This tweet that received more than 12K likes encouraged other people online to share some bizarre yet hilarious reasons that they got teased for and “earned” some funny nicknames. A lot of these people got their nicknames because of the wording they used in their speech that seemed too complicated for others to understand and rather became a perfect way to tease them for knowing some more complex words.
Which one of these stories did you appreciate the most? Do you have your own experience to share? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
More Info: Twitter
Image source: strudelt
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#1
Insert Generic Username 3 years ago
I had my English 101 professor tell me that "amongst" was not a word. She actually marked points off my essay because I used it several times.
RELATED:
#3
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
Just getting in my quotidian ration of sesquipedalian verbage. I love words! Not to impress, but to enjoy.
#4
Claire Stanfield 3 years ago
When you hear "if you're so clever" or "if you're so smart", buckle up - it's about to get wild.
#7
Henry Russell 3 years ago (edited)
so ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so topographical and so feature
#8
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago
Honest question, have they, umm... heard of "school"? I swear it's not a made-up word.
#9
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
In Germany some people get mad if you use words with more than seventeen syllables.
#10
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago (edited)
I just read "antidisestablishmentarianism" and "twat" in one thought-process and that somehow de-escalated something in my brain from a 100 to 0 real quick.😂
#13
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I had to pretend I couldn't read or write in 2nd grade...the teacher was angry child hating HAG who paddled me in front of the class because she caught me reading & writing cursive & we "weren't Doing That Until third grade"...literally ruined my education...I was afraid to be smart. Welcome to PS circa 1966 in Arkansas...
#16
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago (edited)
I'm really trying hard to imagine a "plate" face 😂 [Edit: FOUND IT FOUND IT!! https://preview.redd.it/72djloglrtf81.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=79b225a7b2111ca68cd66d1db9948b4a772b572c
#17
#19
Cadena Norton 3 years ago
I got my husband a shirt that said fight apathy...or don't. He went to pick up food and told me the girl at the counter liked his shirt but asked what apathy meant. Apparently he didn't know either. Good thing he's pretty
#20
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago
Take it as a compliment, and think how much knowledge you have gained as compared to others!
#22
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
My eldest, when she was 3, started crying when asked to eat something she didn't like. She finally blurted out that 'it's disgusting'. English isn't even her first language, so hearing such a big word from a three-year-old made us laugh hard (and we didn't make her eat it).
#28
#31
#32
Kookamunga 3 years ago
"Yes, actually a few dictionaries. But if you swallow just one I think it will help you immensely."
#35
Add New Image
What do you think ?
NsG 3 years ago
Have received several upvotes on a comment earlier this week just for using the word "opine", I'm feeling very seen right now (in a possibly good way?). What makes me sad is the anti-intellectual turn many western countries have taken recently that this is becoming increasingly common. The whole "we've had enough of experts" opinion from the former education minister back in 2016 now seems like something we shouldn't have been surprised by.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
"Anti-intellectual in many western countries"...I would have forgiven 🙏 you for saying the collective IQ of the entire 🇺🇸 dropped to below 40 in 2016 with the election of the Hair 🦰Bear...Tragic but true...Pray for US in 2024 cuz if America gets any Greaterer I'm pulling Moms Canadian Card and heading North!!😈
Load More Replies...
L.A. Trefry 3 years ago
The worship of ignorance (and the anger that any hint of education or intellectualism ignites among so many) is profoundly depressing. This whole post made me lose the will to live. Sigh.
Nikole 3 years ago
It makes me want to no longer amend my vocabulary and speech patterns so much, based on the audience.
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Once I put a sticky on a stack of fax transmission sheets that said, "peruse and file accordingly." And one of the attorneys I worked for told me to speak English.
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
Really? Because peruse is a word commonly used in law, and us in fact usually a billing item.
Load More Replies...
Troux 3 years ago
In a university English I class, the professor asked an open question to the class, based on a common mistake and pet peeve of hers: "Does anyone know the difference between 'everyday' and 'every day'?" I gave a couple seconds for the other ~20 students to answer before saying, "One's an adjective, the other's a noun." She threw up her arms and let out a yelp as if about to faint. I was in shock at how low the bar was.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I've been mocked most of my life for being "too clever" or "thinking too much" or even, "knowing too much". And yet the same people who mocked me were the ones who then wanted to cheat off me in exams, or wanted my help when they were stuck on something. Fortunately for me, autism made me pretty impervious to all the social manipulations and I was quite happy to be thought of as smart, rather than popular. Nothing much has changed. I have friends who still introduce me to others as "the woman with a brain the size of a building" but they do it with a lot of love and pride and admiration, not as an insult. I usually reply, "A building the size of a Monopoly house." But I would never use long or complicated words just to make someone else confused or feel bad. That's just poor communication.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
At nursery school my daughter impressed her teacher by offering to spell medicine and getting it right first time. A three year old isn’t expected to be quite that advanced, she would fall flat on any other eight lettered word but medicine, yup nailed it. Her teacher asked about it and I had to confess that we loved listening to Ryan Hamilton and his song Medicine, in it he spells out M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E medicine before every chorus. She’s 11 now and still loves that tune 😀
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
My sister and I, old girls, still have to sing the Jiminy Cricket song from the Mickey Mouse Club to spell encyclopedia.
Load More Replies...
Jill Bussey 3 years ago
I find this really sad. I love words and I never stop learning. I even find it useful to have studied Latin in senior school.
RatherLoopy 3 years ago (edited)
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, 1980
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Allow me to share one of my favourite things I use: Words-to-u...de-png.jpg 
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I see a lot of folks on this post like me...I rarely show my Mensa side but am quite happy when folks say "Ask Annie...she'll know"...tis better than being an arrogant ass...😁...plus I live in a NorCal town, population 1k where 3/4 of the people are eagerly awaiting 2024 to "Make America Great Again"...hands folded, mouth shut saves a LOT of ass whuppins...😬🤣🤣
Beatrice Multhaupt 3 years ago
This ended up as a tragedy but back in 1990, I was teaching English as a second language to a manager from Venezuela. Out of the blue, he said to me, ''If you were as smart as your co-workers claim you are, you wouldn't be stuck in a dead-end job like this one''. I decided to re-define this as a compliment since I had no idea that my co-workers thought I was smart, but in the light of current economic conditions in Venezuela, I often wonder what this man's life is currently like.
Wondering Alice 3 years ago
Heard about a kid called Baghdad for whole of high school. One his first day he forgot his bag, and his dad brought it in.
Head Mills 3 years ago
That's a story uk comedian Greg Davies does about kids' nicknames when he was at school (very funny bit, it's probably on YouTube)
Load More Replies...
Clipps / Xaften 3 years ago
Im in middle school. Kids in my class call me balloon because i made balloon dogs for some kids.
CbusResident 3 years ago (edited)
I was chatting at a fam. gathering about the big questions of retail in the current age ('Can brick & mortar stores still make in this e-tailer age?' - That sort of chat). So I mentioned how I read in the paper how 'class A malls are actually doing well on foot traffic.' (Nat.' retail groups actually rank every USA mall as Class A, B or C, - As are the 'good malls', Bs are in the middle, Cs are all the ones considered not so good). A fam. member heard this and said I was trying to make up a French-like version of the word classy, that I was trying to turn the word classy into some invented thing like 'classé'. It was funny but awkward to explain what I was actually meaning to her, and that I would never think I could actually suddenly invent an adjective, lol. I've had another person think I was being very fancy and scientific for referring to tectonic plates in a discussion about earthquakes. She thought this made me a Stephen Hawking of the conversation. Don't I wish I was as smart as someone like that!
Tina Hugh 3 years ago
Hmmm. “Déclassé” is a word. Did she think you made up an antonym for it?
Load More Replies...
Ryan Deschanel 3 years ago
Being bullied for not being mediocre enough... The daily life of so many of my fellow nerds...
Yerdua_e.d 3 years ago
One time, i was on a gc with some of my friends, and they were making me do stuff idk remember what, but anyways, i was like, "i don't want to get burned." And one of my friends was like, "then get roasted." Everyone laughed.
Bob Belcher 3 years ago
I see many post speaking down to thise that don't use bigger words or uncommon words. Let us not forget, grammar is just one of many subjects. Thats great some are good at it and they should be appreciated for their skills. But just because someone does not use larger or uncommon words does not mean they are stupid. They have skills in other areas, just not yours. You also need to be aware of your audience when you speak. If you have in depth knowledge of a subject you must present on, be aware I you are speaking speaking to others in your field or others that have no clue.
Charlotte A. 3 years ago
I was sometimes called a hacker at my former job, because I used ctrl+C, V, Z etc...
april jenkins 3 years ago
same! i use the keyboard a lot for commands, cursor to select via mouse.
Load More Replies...
gingepanda 3 years ago
Once at a former job we were playing that headbands game, where you get a card of a random thing on your head and have to ask everyone else questions to figure out what you are. It feels important to note it was the KIDS version of the game.. so all the cards were basic things like common animals or furniture like a chair. It was my turn to guess and I had figured out I was an animal. I asked "am I a mammal?" and was met with blank stares... not a single person on my team of ten people knew what a mammal was!!! that's a primary school concept! it really made me despair for humanity.
D. Pitbull 3 years ago
I often question if it is becoming acceptable to just 'not learn things'. I was at a convention, you know - shopping at little booths/kiosks, and I saw a plush narwhal - very cute, cartoony, but of course, the 'spiral horn' was above the eyes (because, cartoony, etc.) and I said out loud to my friend (not loudly, just... talking) something about how the plush was cute, too bad there aren't many with the tooth/spiral in the right spot. The person manning the booth started LAUGHING at me out loud and was like 'That's not a real creature, you KNOW that right?" and I was like "it. is. a narwhal." and she thought I was being a jerk ... making up ... an animal (Why would i do this???). showed her on my phone... and I said "no... very real creature... well documented..." and I just... stared at her... put the plushie back... slowly walked away...
Chancey 3 years ago
Narwhal, narwhal living in the ocean causing a commotion!
Load More Replies...
Melissa Hollowell 3 years ago
I got the side eye from a manager at a new job for using the word "anomaly". She asked if I had been in a sorority because apparently sorority girls are known for their extensive vocabularies.
Janet C 3 years ago
Especially in the US there's a plague of anti-intellectualism. Anyone who actually wants to learn, reads non-fiction for pleasure, and knows words bigger than two syllables is seen as a dangerous "libtard". It's a sad statement on the decline of a once-great country.
Rachael Sampson 3 years ago
The U.S. was never "great". Certainly not for women and other minorities.
Load More Replies...
Natasha 3 years ago (edited)
I have 2 I was called “Miss Computer”. I was like 8 or 9. I was at a summer camp and kept using “big words”. So this one boy called me Miss Computer and it quickly caught on. In a musical I was in I was nicknamed “Mother” because I was helpful and nice to everyone. People would say stuff like “Mother, can you help me?” Or “Mother can you help me lift this” or stuff like that. Oh I was also the youngest person in the cast.
Sarah 3 years ago
One of my friends says I am the smartest person she knows but.... it's all a scam! The trick is to know a bunch of really weird (but generally useless) tidbits of information. The stranger it is, the better. Obscure facts will trick people every time! "Wow, she knows stuff that the rest of us haven't ever heard of! She must be a genius!" LOL (I'm partly kidding, of course. I think I'm kinda smart too, not trying to dumb myself down or anything.)
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Saying anything you have gleaned from QI usually achieves that!
Load More Replies...
Arya 1 year ago
At my first job I was nicknamed “Siri” because it sounds similar to my actual name and I, apparently, know a lot of weird and random things. But honestly, my meager supply of trivia facts is nothing compared to my husband's. (Also, I *still* start to respond anytime some says “hey siri” around me 😂)
Vera Cyning 2 years ago
My mom. Fancied herself a writer. The list of words I could use that she didn't know, couldn't pronounce or spell is as long as a summer's day. She'd even turn her head away or literally cover a word with her hand if I tried to show her. The breaking point was "eclectic". She insisted it was pronounced "egg-letic" (but she spelled it right!) and meant slow learner. I was grounded a lot. Her books (all self-published) never sold a single copy.
Rose 2 years ago (edited)
I was talking to al freind labout the Defenestration of Prague. He went cross eyed and went och that's a nasty thing to do to a man.... I think he didn't know it means throwing someone out a window. Im almost 100% sure he was talking about a nasty thing to do to a man
Monica Pryts 3 years ago
I'm a writer and learned years ago that you basically have to dumb things down for the masses.
Grace Note 3 years ago
I love so many of these. Especially Plato, sponge and Chaps I'm reminded of The Inbetweeners and Bus wanker. Oh and of course calling the seemingly clever one Briefcase wanker because he carried a briefcase.
Barbara Vandewalle 3 years ago
A pity vocabulary is not taught in school. These words are not that obsolete and are used in many circumstances.
Grady'sRaider 3 years ago (edited)
Intelligence is a skill. Don't feign you can't do well in this world if you don't have it. A person can have great social, dexterity, compassion, mechanical, culinary, musical, etc. etc., skill.
Leslie Seitz 3 years ago
My friends and family make fun of me because I love to read the dictionary.
UpupaEpops 3 years ago
Not a native speaker, not from an English speaking country. Had an English guy laugh at me for calling people from Spain Spaniards...
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
Back when I was still living at home my mum emailed me from work asking me to measure the space the fridge was in because she wanted to get a new one and had to make sure it would fit. I wrote back with the numbers, and helpfully added "fridge protrudes somewhat". I later found out that she not only cracked up laughing when she got the email, but also showed everyone else in the office and they all lost it as well!
Who Panda 420 3 years ago
I get teased a lot for my knowledge or word usage. I'm often asked to talk down so I don't make others feel dumb. Not my intention. Can't help being in love with words and facts. Doesn't make me better than anyone
Random Anon 3 years ago
Salty people with their bruised ego lol. And yes it's especially jarring if they happen to be teachers. it's also one of the reasons I don't correct people with misconceptions, even here. I don't know if it will trigger some duel-for-pride response.
Patricia 3 years ago
A woman I know told me she feels sorry for my SIL, because my daughter READS. Actually, my SIL can read too, lady. And often can be found doing so.
- 3 years ago (edited)
On a positive note (*literally a note*), you don't have to worry about that woman reading this. Seriously, being illiterate is not a joke, it sucks. Some illiterate people develop other skills to compensate, some try to hide their disability; that can include getting defensive and cranky in situations that require reading and writing. This is the first time I hear of someone expressing pity for the parents of a child that can read.
Load More Replies... 
MuddyPuddles 3 years ago
This article made me chuckle, as just today I was told by a colleague that I'm very political because my answers for everything always use long words
BORKADYMUSIC 3 years ago
Most of these are about smart people getting teased for being cool lol, I used to know all the dinosaurs in the dinosaur alphabet song from Dinosaur Train
Lillian Swaim 3 years ago
Back in college, I had somehow gotten the reputation of having vast banks of random knowledge, I learned of this when the juniors of our program would come up to me and randomly ask me questions instead of like, looking it up on the internet. When I asked why I was being asked questions unrelated to our program, one just responded, "We heard you'd know about xyz and figured we see if that was true." I was getting questions like, what is this line on my finger nail called? why are keyboards laid out how they are? What is different about pyrex glass? What are these pipes over here for? on and on, random questions that I happily answered to the best of my ability. We were studying in biotech and I was the trivia nerd
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Well, I once knew a guy whose nickname, if translated into English, meant "piss". Not urine. Piss. And there's the strange nickname story I was hoping to see, rather than "and nobody likes people who use multisyllabic words".
Anna Litical 3 years ago
This has to be Americans. Sorry but a lot really ARE totally ignorant and waste their college so called education. My 4 year old granddaughter has a better knowledge of words. Shrug.
NsG 3 years ago
Have received several upvotes on a comment earlier this week just for using the word "opine", I'm feeling very seen right now (in a possibly good way?). What makes me sad is the anti-intellectual turn many western countries have taken recently that this is becoming increasingly common. The whole "we've had enough of experts" opinion from the former education minister back in 2016 now seems like something we shouldn't have been surprised by.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
"Anti-intellectual in many western countries"...I would have forgiven 🙏 you for saying the collective IQ of the entire 🇺🇸 dropped to below 40 in 2016 with the election of the Hair 🦰Bear...Tragic but true...Pray for US in 2024 cuz if America gets any Greaterer I'm pulling Moms Canadian Card and heading North!!😈
Load More Replies... L.A. Trefry 3 years ago
The worship of ignorance (and the anger that any hint of education or intellectualism ignites among so many) is profoundly depressing. This whole post made me lose the will to live. Sigh.
Nikole 3 years ago
It makes me want to no longer amend my vocabulary and speech patterns so much, based on the audience.
Load More Replies... Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Once I put a sticky on a stack of fax transmission sheets that said, "peruse and file accordingly." And one of the attorneys I worked for told me to speak English.
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
Really? Because peruse is a word commonly used in law, and us in fact usually a billing item.
Load More Replies... Troux 3 years ago
In a university English I class, the professor asked an open question to the class, based on a common mistake and pet peeve of hers: "Does anyone know the difference between 'everyday' and 'every day'?" I gave a couple seconds for the other ~20 students to answer before saying, "One's an adjective, the other's a noun." She threw up her arms and let out a yelp as if about to faint. I was in shock at how low the bar was.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I've been mocked most of my life for being "too clever" or "thinking too much" or even, "knowing too much". And yet the same people who mocked me were the ones who then wanted to cheat off me in exams, or wanted my help when they were stuck on something. Fortunately for me, autism made me pretty impervious to all the social manipulations and I was quite happy to be thought of as smart, rather than popular. Nothing much has changed. I have friends who still introduce me to others as "the woman with a brain the size of a building" but they do it with a lot of love and pride and admiration, not as an insult. I usually reply, "A building the size of a Monopoly house." But I would never use long or complicated words just to make someone else confused or feel bad. That's just poor communication.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
At nursery school my daughter impressed her teacher by offering to spell medicine and getting it right first time. A three year old isn’t expected to be quite that advanced, she would fall flat on any other eight lettered word but medicine, yup nailed it. Her teacher asked about it and I had to confess that we loved listening to Ryan Hamilton and his song Medicine, in it he spells out M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E medicine before every chorus. She’s 11 now and still loves that tune 😀
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
My sister and I, old girls, still have to sing the Jiminy Cricket song from the Mickey Mouse Club to spell encyclopedia.
Load More Replies... Jill Bussey 3 years ago
I find this really sad. I love words and I never stop learning. I even find it useful to have studied Latin in senior school.
RatherLoopy 3 years ago (edited)
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, 1980
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Allow me to share one of my favourite things I use: Words-to-u...de-png.jpg
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I see a lot of folks on this post like me...I rarely show my Mensa side but am quite happy when folks say "Ask Annie...she'll know"...tis better than being an arrogant ass...😁...plus I live in a NorCal town, population 1k where 3/4 of the people are eagerly awaiting 2024 to "Make America Great Again"...hands folded, mouth shut saves a LOT of ass whuppins...😬🤣🤣
Beatrice Multhaupt 3 years ago
This ended up as a tragedy but back in 1990, I was teaching English as a second language to a manager from Venezuela. Out of the blue, he said to me, ''If you were as smart as your co-workers claim you are, you wouldn't be stuck in a dead-end job like this one''. I decided to re-define this as a compliment since I had no idea that my co-workers thought I was smart, but in the light of current economic conditions in Venezuela, I often wonder what this man's life is currently like.
Wondering Alice 3 years ago
Heard about a kid called Baghdad for whole of high school. One his first day he forgot his bag, and his dad brought it in.
Head Mills 3 years ago
That's a story uk comedian Greg Davies does about kids' nicknames when he was at school (very funny bit, it's probably on YouTube)
Load More Replies... Clipps / Xaften 3 years ago
Im in middle school. Kids in my class call me balloon because i made balloon dogs for some kids.
CbusResident 3 years ago (edited)
I was chatting at a fam. gathering about the big questions of retail in the current age ('Can brick & mortar stores still make in this e-tailer age?' - That sort of chat). So I mentioned how I read in the paper how 'class A malls are actually doing well on foot traffic.' (Nat.' retail groups actually rank every USA mall as Class A, B or C, - As are the 'good malls', Bs are in the middle, Cs are all the ones considered not so good). A fam. member heard this and said I was trying to make up a French-like version of the word classy, that I was trying to turn the word classy into some invented thing like 'classé'. It was funny but awkward to explain what I was actually meaning to her, and that I would never think I could actually suddenly invent an adjective, lol. I've had another person think I was being very fancy and scientific for referring to tectonic plates in a discussion about earthquakes. She thought this made me a Stephen Hawking of the conversation. Don't I wish I was as smart as someone like that!
Tina Hugh 3 years ago
Hmmm. “Déclassé” is a word. Did she think you made up an antonym for it?
Load More Replies... Ryan Deschanel 3 years ago
Being bullied for not being mediocre enough... The daily life of so many of my fellow nerds...
Yerdua_e.d 3 years ago
One time, i was on a gc with some of my friends, and they were making me do stuff idk remember what, but anyways, i was like, "i don't want to get burned." And one of my friends was like, "then get roasted." Everyone laughed.
Bob Belcher 3 years ago
I see many post speaking down to thise that don't use bigger words or uncommon words. Let us not forget, grammar is just one of many subjects. Thats great some are good at it and they should be appreciated for their skills. But just because someone does not use larger or uncommon words does not mean they are stupid. They have skills in other areas, just not yours. You also need to be aware of your audience when you speak. If you have in depth knowledge of a subject you must present on, be aware I you are speaking speaking to others in your field or others that have no clue.
Charlotte A. 3 years ago
I was sometimes called a hacker at my former job, because I used ctrl+C, V, Z etc...
april jenkins 3 years ago
same! i use the keyboard a lot for commands, cursor to select via mouse.
Load More Replies... gingepanda 3 years ago
Once at a former job we were playing that headbands game, where you get a card of a random thing on your head and have to ask everyone else questions to figure out what you are. It feels important to note it was the KIDS version of the game.. so all the cards were basic things like common animals or furniture like a chair. It was my turn to guess and I had figured out I was an animal. I asked "am I a mammal?" and was met with blank stares... not a single person on my team of ten people knew what a mammal was!!! that's a primary school concept! it really made me despair for humanity.
D. Pitbull 3 years ago
I often question if it is becoming acceptable to just 'not learn things'. I was at a convention, you know - shopping at little booths/kiosks, and I saw a plush narwhal - very cute, cartoony, but of course, the 'spiral horn' was above the eyes (because, cartoony, etc.) and I said out loud to my friend (not loudly, just... talking) something about how the plush was cute, too bad there aren't many with the tooth/spiral in the right spot. The person manning the booth started LAUGHING at me out loud and was like 'That's not a real creature, you KNOW that right?" and I was like "it. is. a narwhal." and she thought I was being a jerk ... making up ... an animal (Why would i do this???). showed her on my phone... and I said "no... very real creature... well documented..." and I just... stared at her... put the plushie back... slowly walked away...
Chancey 3 years ago
Narwhal, narwhal living in the ocean causing a commotion!
Load More Replies... Melissa Hollowell 3 years ago
I got the side eye from a manager at a new job for using the word "anomaly". She asked if I had been in a sorority because apparently sorority girls are known for their extensive vocabularies.
Janet C 3 years ago
Especially in the US there's a plague of anti-intellectualism. Anyone who actually wants to learn, reads non-fiction for pleasure, and knows words bigger than two syllables is seen as a dangerous "libtard". It's a sad statement on the decline of a once-great country.
Rachael Sampson 3 years ago
The U.S. was never "great". Certainly not for women and other minorities.
Load More Replies... Natasha 3 years ago (edited)
I have 2 I was called “Miss Computer”. I was like 8 or 9. I was at a summer camp and kept using “big words”. So this one boy called me Miss Computer and it quickly caught on. In a musical I was in I was nicknamed “Mother” because I was helpful and nice to everyone. People would say stuff like “Mother, can you help me?” Or “Mother can you help me lift this” or stuff like that. Oh I was also the youngest person in the cast.
Sarah 3 years ago
One of my friends says I am the smartest person she knows but.... it's all a scam! The trick is to know a bunch of really weird (but generally useless) tidbits of information. The stranger it is, the better. Obscure facts will trick people every time! "Wow, she knows stuff that the rest of us haven't ever heard of! She must be a genius!" LOL (I'm partly kidding, of course. I think I'm kinda smart too, not trying to dumb myself down or anything.)
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Saying anything you have gleaned from QI usually achieves that!
Load More Replies... Arya 1 year ago
At my first job I was nicknamed “Siri” because it sounds similar to my actual name and I, apparently, know a lot of weird and random things. But honestly, my meager supply of trivia facts is nothing compared to my husband's. (Also, I *still* start to respond anytime some says “hey siri” around me 😂)
Vera Cyning 2 years ago
My mom. Fancied herself a writer. The list of words I could use that she didn't know, couldn't pronounce or spell is as long as a summer's day. She'd even turn her head away or literally cover a word with her hand if I tried to show her. The breaking point was "eclectic". She insisted it was pronounced "egg-letic" (but she spelled it right!) and meant slow learner. I was grounded a lot. Her books (all self-published) never sold a single copy.
Rose 2 years ago (edited)
I was talking to al freind labout the Defenestration of Prague. He went cross eyed and went och that's a nasty thing to do to a man.... I think he didn't know it means throwing someone out a window. Im almost 100% sure he was talking about a nasty thing to do to a man
Monica Pryts 3 years ago
I'm a writer and learned years ago that you basically have to dumb things down for the masses.
Grace Note 3 years ago
I love so many of these. Especially Plato, sponge and Chaps I'm reminded of The Inbetweeners and Bus wanker. Oh and of course calling the seemingly clever one Briefcase wanker because he carried a briefcase.
Barbara Vandewalle 3 years ago
A pity vocabulary is not taught in school. These words are not that obsolete and are used in many circumstances.
Grady'sRaider 3 years ago (edited)
Intelligence is a skill. Don't feign you can't do well in this world if you don't have it. A person can have great social, dexterity, compassion, mechanical, culinary, musical, etc. etc., skill.
Leslie Seitz 3 years ago
My friends and family make fun of me because I love to read the dictionary.
UpupaEpops 3 years ago
Not a native speaker, not from an English speaking country. Had an English guy laugh at me for calling people from Spain Spaniards...
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
Back when I was still living at home my mum emailed me from work asking me to measure the space the fridge was in because she wanted to get a new one and had to make sure it would fit. I wrote back with the numbers, and helpfully added "fridge protrudes somewhat". I later found out that she not only cracked up laughing when she got the email, but also showed everyone else in the office and they all lost it as well!
Who Panda 420 3 years ago
I get teased a lot for my knowledge or word usage. I'm often asked to talk down so I don't make others feel dumb. Not my intention. Can't help being in love with words and facts. Doesn't make me better than anyone
Random Anon 3 years ago
Salty people with their bruised ego lol. And yes it's especially jarring if they happen to be teachers. it's also one of the reasons I don't correct people with misconceptions, even here. I don't know if it will trigger some duel-for-pride response.
Patricia 3 years ago
A woman I know told me she feels sorry for my SIL, because my daughter READS. Actually, my SIL can read too, lady. And often can be found doing so.
- 3 years ago (edited)
On a positive note (*literally a note*), you don't have to worry about that woman reading this. Seriously, being illiterate is not a joke, it sucks. Some illiterate people develop other skills to compensate, some try to hide their disability; that can include getting defensive and cranky in situations that require reading and writing. This is the first time I hear of someone expressing pity for the parents of a child that can read.
Load More Replies... MuddyPuddles 3 years ago
This article made me chuckle, as just today I was told by a colleague that I'm very political because my answers for everything always use long words
BORKADYMUSIC 3 years ago
Most of these are about smart people getting teased for being cool lol, I used to know all the dinosaurs in the dinosaur alphabet song from Dinosaur Train
Lillian Swaim 3 years ago
Back in college, I had somehow gotten the reputation of having vast banks of random knowledge, I learned of this when the juniors of our program would come up to me and randomly ask me questions instead of like, looking it up on the internet. When I asked why I was being asked questions unrelated to our program, one just responded, "We heard you'd know about xyz and figured we see if that was true." I was getting questions like, what is this line on my finger nail called? why are keyboards laid out how they are? What is different about pyrex glass? What are these pipes over here for? on and on, random questions that I happily answered to the best of my ability. We were studying in biotech and I was the trivia nerd
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Well, I once knew a guy whose nickname, if translated into English, meant "piss". Not urine. Piss. And there's the strange nickname story I was hoping to see, rather than "and nobody likes people who use multisyllabic words".
Anna Litical 3 years ago
This has to be Americans. Sorry but a lot really ARE totally ignorant and waste their college so called education. My 4 year old granddaughter has a better knowledge of words. Shrug.
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