Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » If I dont understand what you said I will tell you. You don't dumb down to folks because you think they wouldn't understand you. Do you?
RosieG

If I dont understand what you said I will tell you. You don't dumb down to folks because you think they wouldn't understand you. Do you?

If you do it's kind of insulting to think we are not smart enough to grasp what you're saying. Speak the way you always do Be TRUE TO YOU. If need be we can say "could you clarify what you mean please?". It's easy to say. I think it's much easier and superior to be true to whom you are and not assume things of others. Let them ask. What's the harm in that? I'm just sayin'.....

Posted - March 13, 2019
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Responses


  • 2706
    I usually don't dumb down what I'm saying but I have no problem repeating myself or clarifying what I'm saying if a person tells me they don't understand. :)
      March 13, 2019 9:23 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Years ago on Answerbag a member said he used simpler words on the internet site so people wouldn't think he was showing off. Boy oh boy did I ever let him have it! I told him that meant he was ASSUMING the people were not as smart as he was and wouldn't know the words or didn't have a dictionary available so they could look them up! I told him it was being a phony for sure and also very insulting. I talk here the exact same way I talk everywhere. Why would I change the words I normally use and use "easy simple " words? That is ridiculous and I told him so. Well we didn't talk much after that. I guess I ticked him off. I think it's just best to to be whom you are and some folks will like you and some won't. So what? That's how life is anyway. Thank you for your reply ru. Now if I happen to run into a word with which I'm not familiar and look it up and then  use it I might include the definition in case the word is new to the reader too.  :)
      March 13, 2019 2:15 PM MDT
    1

  • If communication isn't clear and understood, it's worthless. You need to decide which is more important, communicating information and ideas, or "being true to yourself". Successful people can communicate to persons of various backgrounds and abilities without being insulting.(Business, political, ecclesiastical leaders, professional people) It takes real talent and skill to do it, but I've known such people. It does no good to be a "walking encyclopedia" if you can't successfully impart any of it.
      March 13, 2019 9:53 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    I try to talk at least at the level that someone can see I can spell okay and put two sentences that compose a thought together.  I am secure in my ability to effectively communicate.  I am not trying to win the Pulitzer.  
      March 13, 2019 2:21 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    Interesting issue, Rosie---

    Many years ago I went to the "Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation" for some aptitude tests.  They tested and have the results of a number of groups of naturally talented individuals in music, mathematics, writing, business, and many others.  They then grouped the common traits that those individuals share.  They then test you in many areas and compare your results to the groups---which gives you a pretty good idea of what you do well naturally.

    In my vocabulary "test" (more complexly designed than your typical list of random words) I was put in the 50th percentile.  That and all the rest of the results were given in an informal interview on the last (of 3) days, and one can ask questions.

    When he told me "the 50th (compared to business executives)," he must have reacted to the look on my face and he quickly said, "Oh, in the general population you are in the "98th."

    The lasting impression I got from that is that when I "promulgate my esoteric contemplations and platitudinous ponderosities" perhaps I should be concerned about whether I am actually communicating anything to my "audience"---whether writing or speaking.  (For example "forging and uttering" a check is illegal, but strictly speaking, neither "forging" nor "uttering" is illegal.)

    That's why I usually make my answers as precise as possible.
      March 13, 2019 2:45 PM MDT
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