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<blockquote data-quote="Marius Delphus" data-source="post: 4191622" data-attributes="member: 447">Sometimes ignorance is merely ignorance: i.e., the condition of never having being exposed to the fact in question, and thus never having had the opportunity to learn it.I know how to use Microsoft Word fairly well. In fact, people observing me ply my trade have commented that it's &quot;like watching a pool shark run a table&quot; or &quot;Word ninjitsu.&quot; I never assume that people without my level of ability are stupid.&nbsp; I prefer to assume that they haven't as much experience with Microsoft Word, as much need to plumb its inner workings, or as much practice with it as I have. N.B. I'm not claiming to have achieved a Zen-like state where I'm never *frustrated* by the fact -- quite the contrary. On days when I have plenty of patience, I'm able to teach somebody a useful shortcut or routine that helps them stop fighting to write their documents. On days when I have less, I just do what needs to be done and hand the document back without comment.The same is true of vocabulary. Many, many people are raised without the benefit of role models that value language, that think mastery of one's native language is an end in itself, and that believe that &quot;language ninjitsu&quot; is a valuable survival tool and life skill.It's rude to look down on people because they simply don't know a word you know.I know in my bones that &quot;justicar&quot; is a misspelling, but I don't take anyone to task over it. I cringe inwardly when people use &quot;vice&quot; to mean &quot;versus&quot; (I suspect I know where that comes from, but it still rankles), but if it's not important I don't correct them. &quot;Free reign&quot; and &quot;rain of terror,&quot; &quot;horde of treasure&quot; and &quot;hoard of barbarians&quot; still set my teeth on edge.But I have a choice to make: I can make enemies, or I can make friends. I can ridicule, or I can educate. I can haughtily and snidely dismiss someone because their vocabulary isn't as large as mine, or I can take the opportunity to increase the general level of knowledge in the universe. I can dismiss someone as unable to learn and therefore beneath my notice, or I can impress upon them that using the dictionary tends to be a good idea on encountering an unfamiliar word, and empower that person to increase their mastery of language.In short, I agree that assuming that a native English speaker perforce knows the correct pronunciation of the archaic term &quot;blackguard&quot; (and it *is* archaic, but not based upon its rarity in popular entertainment) is rash and elitist. Let's be careful, in this thread, not to judge people based on the size of their vocabulary but to educate and increase knowledge.[EDIT: For bonus points, without looking it up, &quot;boatswain.&quot;]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Marius Delphus, post: 4191622, member: 447"] Sometimes ignorance is merely ignorance: i.e., the condition of never having being exposed to the fact in question, and thus never having had the opportunity to learn it. I know how to use Microsoft Word fairly well. In fact, people observing me ply my trade have commented that it's "like watching a pool shark run a table" or "Word ninjitsu." I never assume that people without my level of ability are stupid. I prefer to assume that they haven't as much experience with Microsoft Word, as much need to plumb its inner workings, or as much practice with it as I have. N.B. I'm not claiming to have achieved a Zen-like state where I'm never *frustrated* by the fact -- quite the contrary. On days when I have plenty of patience, I'm able to teach somebody a useful shortcut or routine that helps them stop fighting to write their documents. On days when I have less, I just do what needs to be done and hand the document back without comment. The same is true of vocabulary. Many, many people are raised without the benefit of role models that value language, that think mastery of one's native language is an end in itself, and that believe that "language ninjitsu" is a valuable survival tool and life skill. It's rude to look down on people because they simply don't know a word you know. I know in my bones that "justicar" is a misspelling, but I don't take anyone to task over it. I cringe inwardly when people use "vice" to mean "versus" (I suspect I know where that comes from, but it still rankles), but if it's not important I don't correct them. "Free reign" and "rain of terror," "horde of treasure" and "hoard of barbarians" still set my teeth on edge. But I have a choice to make: I can make enemies, or I can make friends. I can ridicule, or I can educate. I can haughtily and snidely dismiss someone because their vocabulary isn't as large as mine, or I can take the opportunity to increase the general level of knowledge in the universe. I can dismiss someone as unable to learn and therefore beneath my notice, or I can impress upon them that using the dictionary tends to be a good idea on encountering an unfamiliar word, and empower that person to increase their mastery of language. In short, I agree that assuming that a native English speaker perforce knows the correct pronunciation of the archaic term "blackguard" (and it *is* archaic, but not based upon its rarity in popular entertainment) is rash and elitist. Let's be careful, in this thread, not to judge people based on the size of their vocabulary but to educate and increase knowledge. [EDIT: For bonus points, without looking it up, "boatswain."] [/QUOTE]

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