Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Highfalutin and Hoity-Toity

I’ve occasionally been accused of using large words in this space. Perhaps that’s why it was so refreshing when a friend praised me for compiling a project that was “especially easy to read...applicable and effective.” Ironically, I learned two new words in the process.

My friend also commented that such projects “can be so high falutent that only other heuty teuties can understand them [sic].” I knew exactly what she meant. I also had a gnawing sense that these words weren’t spelled quite correctly.

I needed to satisfy my curiosity.

I spell checked “falutent.” The first recommended spelling that came up? Flatulent. Oops. Although people who write with an air of sophistication can certainly come off as gassy, I knew this wasn’t what she meant. After searching a bit more, I discovered that her word was actually “highfalutin” – surprising, because it’s one word, not two.

The other word is “hoity-toity.”

Curiosity satisfied.

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