Monday, June 21, 2010

You don't want to be this way

sesquipedalianism \ses-kwi-PEED-l-iz-uhm\, adjective:
1. Given to using long words.
2. (Of a word) containing many syllables.
It is very true that when the experiment of dictating is first tried, the luxury of the ease it gives is apt to be so great, that it tends to looseness and verbosity of style; for there is no better check on sesquipedalianism than the necessity of writing down one's sesquipedalian words for one's self.
-- Christian Examiner, Volume 72

History: 1615, from L. sesquipedalia verba "words a foot-and-a-half long," in Horace's "Ars Poetica" (97), nicely illustrating the thing he is criticizing, from sesqui- "half as much again" (see sesquicentennial) + pes "foot"

-- Dictionary.com

No comments: