(via The Reverse Cowgirl)
I beg to differ. If you use these words in a conversation that’s happening outside of a college classroom you will sound like an insufferable bore. You will be the intellectual equivalent of the guy with the tiny penis who tries to compensate by being an aggressive asshole. In fact, outside of a tiny clique of useless vat-brained Skeksis in Manhattan who need to use such words because they haven’t figured out how to acceptably wear their useless parent-paid college degrees on their lapels, no one worth knowing or talking to or breathing air with gives one flying fuck about any of these words, or whether or not you know them.
They don’t make you sound smart, they make you sound like a parrot with an Encyclopedia set mommy and daddy bought you. The look people give you when you use these words and they don’t “get” it? It’s not them thinking you’re smart, it’s them thinking you’re an intellectual snob fart, and they’re holding their breath until the air clears.
The writer of the piece has it right: “Warning: With the wrong audience, you might end up punched in the face or wearing your underwear outside your pants involuntarily.”
Must watch: Good Will Hunting bar scene.
See also: Never write “visage” when “face” will do. Which is always.