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Started By
Message
Annoying buzzwords in academia
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:30 am
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:30 am
We're all familiar with buzzwords in the business world and have threads on the topic often on this board.
I'm reading a copy of As I Lay Dying which I inherited from an English major, who I have to assume is a girl, and it's marked with nonsensical notes and contains many random highlighted passages.
Reading these notes brought me back to a few of the English classes I took while at LSU. In any of these classes you will find a bunch of kids parrotting words they've heard in the course of their Humanities studies, they often do not have a grasp on how said words are to be used; if, heaven forbid, they actually do know how to use it- said word will be used in nearly every point they make about anything. These people, more often than not, are the most outspoken in any given class discussion and usually are just forcing a heaping helping of word salad on their peers.
Some of the buzzwords popular with wanna-be intellectuals in the world of undergraduate Humanities courses:
Tomes
Archetype
Secular
Denouement
Assonance
Exegesis
Syntax
Motif
Aesthetics
Didactic
Catharsis
Petrarchan conceit
Conventions
Trope
And perhaps most consistently- not knowing the difference between an allegory, a metaphor, symbolism, and a simile.
Now I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with these words- they can be very useful when writing a paper and used properly/in the right context- but when you get some airhead spitting out four of these in each sentence it just comes across as total blather. If you use more than two of any of the above words in one spoken sentence, you're doing it wrong.
Anyone have any similiar experiences? What are some words you hear misused a lot by students in your classes?
I'm reading a copy of As I Lay Dying which I inherited from an English major, who I have to assume is a girl, and it's marked with nonsensical notes and contains many random highlighted passages.
Reading these notes brought me back to a few of the English classes I took while at LSU. In any of these classes you will find a bunch of kids parrotting words they've heard in the course of their Humanities studies, they often do not have a grasp on how said words are to be used; if, heaven forbid, they actually do know how to use it- said word will be used in nearly every point they make about anything. These people, more often than not, are the most outspoken in any given class discussion and usually are just forcing a heaping helping of word salad on their peers.
Some of the buzzwords popular with wanna-be intellectuals in the world of undergraduate Humanities courses:
Tomes
Archetype
Secular
Denouement
Assonance
Exegesis
Syntax
Motif
Aesthetics
Didactic
Catharsis
Petrarchan conceit
Conventions
Trope
And perhaps most consistently- not knowing the difference between an allegory, a metaphor, symbolism, and a simile.
Now I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with these words- they can be very useful when writing a paper and used properly/in the right context- but when you get some airhead spitting out four of these in each sentence it just comes across as total blather. If you use more than two of any of the above words in one spoken sentence, you're doing it wrong.
Anyone have any similiar experiences? What are some words you hear misused a lot by students in your classes?
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:32 am to ManBearTiger
I hear, bruh a lot. But I'm at BRCC
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:36 am to ManBearTiger
Most of the Humanities grads I've dealt with use a junior high-high school level vocabulary. If it's in an email or something from HR you can probably assume they right click > synonym every 3rd word to try and sound official.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:37 am to ManBearTiger
Sweden
Fair
U.K
Fairshare
obscene
Canada
Women's
rights
Norway
Eta:swiss
Fair
U.K
Fairshare
obscene
Canada
Women's
rights
Norway
Eta:swiss
This post was edited on 9/22/15 at 10:38 am
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:38 am to tankyank13
I'll start with academia
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:38 am to ManBearTiger
quote:
Aesthetics
I feel like this is pretty commonly used outside of what you're talking about. Maybe I'm wrong but I just didn't think it fit with the others.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:40 am to ManBearTiger
Anyone in any type of medical research knows that "ubiquitous" is easily the most overused word. Easily.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:40 am to Big Wooly Mammoth
I get what you're saying, but it's generally used in a different way when discussing literature compared to the apparent appearance of an object or an action.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:45 am to ManBearTiger
quote:I don't know what any of these words mean
Tomes
Archetype
Secular
Denouement
Assonance
Exegesis
Syntax
Motif
Aesthetics
Didactic
Catharsis
Petrarchan conceit
Conventions
Trope
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:46 am to ManBearTiger
Using buzzwords in the business world is far more annoying, but I get your point.
At least in a college environment, you know they do it b/c they are as dumb as a box of rocks with no real life experience.
At least in a college environment, you know they do it b/c they are as dumb as a box of rocks with no real life experience.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 10:46 am to GeauxxxTigers23
and you probably wouldn't use them incorrectly in a sentence to try and impress an instructor, so you already have a leg up in my book.
This post was edited on 9/22/15 at 10:47 am
Posted on 9/22/15 at 11:15 am to ManBearTiger
Architecture school is pretty bad with this. The combination of creatives and academics all trying to sound like they are the smartest person in the room. Some key examples:
dichotomy
juxtaposition
duality
intrinsic
hierarchy
articulation
And of course the misunderstanding and then overuse of the word "modern" in describing a design idea or aesthetic.
EDIT: Just saw that aesthetic is on the OP list
dichotomy
juxtaposition
duality
intrinsic
hierarchy
articulation
And of course the misunderstanding and then overuse of the word "modern" in describing a design idea or aesthetic.
EDIT: Just saw that aesthetic is on the OP list
This post was edited on 9/22/15 at 11:16 am
Posted on 9/22/15 at 11:31 am to EveryonesACoach
quote:
articulation
I'd say this is ironic but then the word "ironic" might make the list.
If a word is used more than a few times in any given situation, particularly amongst educated people, it's very likely that it's simply necessary to convey their thought. You know... the primary directive of communicative language.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 11:33 am to ManBearTiger
salience/salient
hegemony/hegemonic
Useful terms, but way overused in academic circles.
hegemony/hegemonic
Useful terms, but way overused in academic circles.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 11:57 am to ManBearTiger
I'm a librarian AND a Church musician.
I use tome and trope more than some other folk.
I use tome and trope more than some other folk.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 12:31 pm to ManBearTiger
Tome : (n) what a pretentious douchebag calls a book.
Posted on 9/22/15 at 12:33 pm to ManBearTiger
Hm, I dunno a lot of these are technical terms, though often misused. I'd say the problem lies more in bad or obscure expression than the words themselves.
Motif is common among undergrads and very annoying though--see also "theme" and "society".
Motif is common among undergrads and very annoying though--see also "theme" and "society".
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