Feedback and Suggestion Box

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

perhaps some members could use less shockingly big words

Oh, but *Varda*, why go through all the effort of typing up a half dozen different words, when one does the trick so nicely?

Actually, to be more serious about the big word issue... I don't know if this holds true for anybody else, but when I'm speaking or writing, I use whatever word comes to mind, and it rarely occurs to me that somebody may not know what it means. I got accused a couple of weeks ago in class of "giving a definition that needs a definition." I believe I was asked to define 'ubiquitous' and I said 'omnipresent.' It didn't occur to me until I got yelled at by my friends that the teacher was the only person who knew what I meant. So although we can *try* to ease up on the university lingo, a lot of our Big Word Posters may not even realize that they're doing it.

[Fingolfin II]

I don't see that using big words is really much of a problem. It's one thing to use a seemingly large word to better describe something, but it's another thing to be verbose and use 'university language' for the sake of using it. I agree with *Varda* that if people don't know the meaning of a word they should take two seconds to look it up in the dictionary.

Feanor of the Peredhi

Very interesting, however, it is the writers job to make themselves understood not the readers job to do so.

Big words do not for intelligence make. Some of the most profound statements in human history are said in very few words and are totally understandable to those of higher and lesser intelligence than the writer

[Lalaith]

Hmmm.....but what would Tolkien do?

Should his editor have told him "hey JRR, you can't come out with all this 'begone foul dwimmerlaik' stuff because it's alienating and elitist and in fifty years time a bunch of college kids won't know what the hell you're talking about. What's wrong with simple English - 'beat it you creepy monster'."

This is a forum devoted to the works of a professor of philology. Philology is the study of words but it literally means 'love of language.' If you come across a word you don't understand, in a book or on this forum or anywhere else, do Tolkien the honour of looking it up in a dictionary.
Ok you won't find dwimmerlaik in most dictionaries, I admit, but the advice holds good otherwise.

[Guinevere]

I agree, Lalaith!
Btw, in the new German translation Wolfgang Krege actually [I]did[B] modernize Tolkien's language! *shudders* (If anymone is interested in details about that, see my old thread Tolkien Translations )

[The Saucepan Man]

I've been rather "out-of-the-loop" in the last two weeks, but I'm back now and hoping to resume participation once I have done my "homework" and caught up on all the posts.

And about the number of times that the more senior (older?) (arthritic?) members of the Downs have read the books: not all of us have read them annually over decades.

Hehe. I'm with Bb on this one. This time round will probably be about the fifth or sixth time that I have read the book, and I have only read it once previously in the past 15 years or so (which is why I am so relishing the opportunity of reading it again). Much of my background knowledge (such as it is) has been gleaned from reading, and contributing to, the threads on this forum.

As for the style of posts, I think that everyone should post in the style with which they feel comfortable (txtspk excepted ). If you have something of substance to say, it doesn't really matter how you say it (provided that it is intelligible, of course, and I don't see that being a problem here). As for "academic" style posting, there are (as has been said) dictionaries available on-line. And if you still don't understand what someone is trying to say, then don't be afraid to question it. I am sure that no one here will take exception to being asked to clarify their point (and I can think of many, myself included, who would relish the opportunity ... ).