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Big words John Williams uses...


King Mark

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Declamatory is a big word?

It's not declaratory (not a big word) but declamatory (big word).  Different words. :mellow:  The latter you don't really hear until college English.  

Temerity

Or here's a good one "The discomfiture I felt as a musician..."

....For crying out loud say "FRUSTRATION!" "EMBARASSMENT!"  "PAIN" "SUFFERING"!  Discomfiture?  

I mean, it's easy to derive meaning from the root, but holy hell that is one pretentious way of saying something so easily said.

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"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way" -Mark Twain.

Melange is a big word?

You have to forgive us. They don't teach us poetic English in America.

My dad always says if you want to learn your proper tongue, go to a different country and learn it.

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Declamatory is a big word?

It's not declaratory (not a big word) but declamatory (big word). Different words. :mellow: The latter you don't really hear until college English.

Temerity

Or here's a good one "The discomfiture I felt as a musician..."

....For crying out loud say "FRUSTRATION!" "EMBARASSMENT!" "PAIN" "SUFFERING"! Discomfiture?

I mean, it's easy to derive meaning from the root, but holy hell that is one pretentious way of saying something so easily said.

When you have a big vocabulary, you tend to use it without thinking. For JW, discomfiture is clearly a word he will use more commonly than say frustration or pain. Just because he uses it doesn't make him pretentious, just well learned.

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I have been trained with an exorbitant knowledge of esoteric words in use by those instructed in the most difficult oration methods.

Doesn't mean I go 'round speaking like a darn pedantic snob.

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I often use a great deal of bigger words in everyday conversion and my friends ask me, "seriously, did you just say that?" Most of the time I don't realize most of the words I use, as its part of my vocabulary and I don't consider it snobby or pretentious, but simply who I am and the words I know.

Then again, I'm probably in the minority. To each his own.

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I often use a great deal of bigger words in everyday conversion and my friends ask me, "seriously, did you just say that?" Most of the time I don't realize most of the words I use, as its part of my vocabulary and I don't consider it snobby or pretentious, but simply who I am and the words I know.

Then again, I'm probably in the minority. To each his own.

Whether you try to or not, when you use big words like that you will come off as a douche. Thats just the way it is. My vocabulary is rather large, but I rarely use alot of it because I'm just a relaxed person.

"I find this thread shallow and pedantic." - Peter Griffin (sort of)

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There's nothing wrong with having a refined or large vocabulary. It's how you use it that matters.

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John's vocabulary is one of the things I love about him! His interviews are so much more interesting (and precise) than 99% of the people in the film community. He's absolutely brilliant.

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John's vocabulary is one of the things I love about him! His interviews are so much more interesting (and precise) than 99% of the people in the film community. He's absolutely brilliant.

Personally, as much as I love JW, I prefer the short 4-letter words that Jerry Goldsmith used in interviews. Williams is my favorite film composer, but Goldsmith gave much more interesting interviews.

Dole- who dreams of hearing an expletive-laden JW interview about the Star Wars prequels.

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I don't think Williams' interviews are that exciting at all. You look at how people like Elfman, Goldsmith, Horner or Zimmer talk about their work, and it's much more interesting than Williams' usual diplomatic answers.

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I imagine this will come as a surprise to everyone here, but I do find Williams interviews the most interesting ones.

And the fun of discovering a new english word... so many joys...

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Melange is a big word?

no, he's one of the rich posters on this board.

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Why build a sturdy bridge when a couple of planks will probably work.

In the end I firmly believe that the dumbing down of language has led to the general dumbing down of the whole of the Western world. This has in turn led to street lingo and rap music, a general lack of respect for others, the destructive new youth culture, and a general unwillingness to better oneself. Kids today seem to be the most unresponsive, apathetic, and lethargic of any age. They are generally lazier, more selfish, and more concerned about their "attitude", and "rights" than about making a constructive contribution to their world. Sometimes I look at the teenagers of today and shudder at what the world will be like when they are in charge. Of course, our parents probably thought the same thing about us.

Losing our language is only the start of a far bigger loss.

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In the end I firmly believe that the dumbing down of language has led to the general dumbing down of the whole of the Western world. This has in turn led to street lingo and rap music, a general lack of respect for others, the destructive new youth culture, and a general unwillingness to better oneself. Kids today seem to be the most unresponsive, apathetic, and lethargic of any age. They are generally lazier, more selfish, and more concerned about their "attitude", and "rights" than about making a constructive contribution to their world. Sometimes I look at the teenagers of today and shudder at what the world will be like when they are in charge. Of course, our parents probably thought the same thing about us.

So... language did that, huh? And here I thought it was just the depravity of mankind, and our diminishing sense of morals.

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Oh, I'm with Pixie. English language (as well as other popular languages like Spanish) has been impoverished with time, especially since the 20th century. Some people will call it evolution, and they may be right - but we have never had as much lingustic pet peeves floating around as we do, um, like, y'know, now?

You know the song, "good authors, too, who once knew better words now only use four-letter words writing prose...."

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Anything goes

Although, one could simply argue that it is the "American Culture" that these artists are adressing.

Similar to how Langston Hughes spoke the language of the aferican american people/culture in his writings so they could relate and understand, so too, it may simply be that these people simply choose to speak in a fashion in which the common person could understand and relate to.

A friend of mine once commented that he realized that Michael Crichton is actually a very intelligent man. He had always thought he was a common joe but what he realized is that he purposely writes down to the audience so that even though he is speaking of complex issues (global warming, exogenesis, quantum mechanics, chaos theory, Holocene Extinction, etc.) he uses words that keep people from being overwhelmed.

Not to compare James Horner to this, but yea, an idea.

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Didn't Williams use the phrase "napalmy booms" in that featurette thingy on the Nixon CD? I heard him use the word "vicarious" in an interview about The Towering Inferno too.

You heard it here first. :nod:

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But good words should be savoured and enjoyed, rolled around on the tongue a little before spoken. Dennis Potter said that. There's a wonderful scene in The Singing Detective where Michael Gambon's character eulogises on the most beautiful word in the English language. Apparently it's "elbow".

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Eulogises? Did the word die?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a relaxed way of speaking. We all don't have to be Mr. Webster.

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When Williams was talking about Schindler's List on a 1994 Evening at Pops program, he used the word 'tumult', Perlman quipped "I love that word, 'tumul'"

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