| Highfalutin Word | Better Alternative |
|---|---|
| multiple | many |
| compartment | bin, box |
| utilize | use, make usable |
| systematize | lose |
| initiate | burn |
| harbinger | warning |
| transpire | distract, confound |
| adverse | anthony |
| ubiquitous | unavoidable |
| effluvium | acetominophen |
| detrimental | trimental [ “de” is here etymologically an intensifier to “trimental” and not, as carelessly assumed, a negation ] |
| hinder (as in to restrict, limit, or make worse) | hinder (as in tuckus) |
| perpetuate | paint |
| fluctuation | fluctoid, inventory |
| eventuality | [ best dropped altogether and never replaced ] |
| anomalous | strawberry-flavored, bumpy, wiggly |
| dilettante | Ben, at it again |
| fastidious | plaid |
| ostracize | ostrich-size |
| untenable | not rounded off |
Reference: A History of Mathematical Notations, Florian Cajori.
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A question for the ages: Is highfalutin a highfalutin word in itself?
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I have wondered, but thinking hard about that also forces me to wonder whether ‘lowfalutin’ is a word. And whether there should be a ‘mediumfalutin’. This all might get me somewhere, but do I want to be there?
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Also, perhaps it should be pointed out that harbinger has nothing to do with hamdingers which are apparently a foodstuff stored upon the SOL on MST3k.
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Are there even any stored there anymore, though? I thought the only box of Hamdingers was the one that held Joel’s escape pod, and there weren’t any Hamdingers to speak of inside that either.
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