Peoria's guestbook question of February 12, 2001:

Some of English learners call difficult words "big words."

But, what are the "big words" actually? Or is "big word" itself English? Isn't it a Japanese-English?

This is an interesting question, and it raises the bigger question (which I won't go into here!) of when we should and shouldn't use certain kinds of words.

"Big word(s)" isn't Japanese-English--it is an actual English term. I wouldn't necessarily characterize a big word as a difficult word, but I would say that the words that most people consider "big" are generally low frequency words in daily conversation.

We usually this term when we want to say that an uncommon or unfamiliar word has been used where a simpler, more common word might have been more natural. It is often used to show our disdain for exclusionary use of language, so if you hear someone use this term, you can be fairly sure that she or he is showing at least some contempt for the other person's attempt to appear sophisticated or highly educated.

Need an example? I'm sure you remember the way George Clooney's character used big words in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"--he made it a point to use low frequency words from his extensive vocabulary no matter who the listeners were. One term from the movie that comes to mind is "pater familias"--I'd never heard this term until I saw the movie, but it struck me as particularly pretentious (though it was rather humorous within the context of the movie). Kim-sensei has advised me that the term is quite familiar in Britain and Australia, so it may sound perfectly natural in those countries, but I suspect it would be considered a bit pompous if used in daily conversation in the U.S.

I hope this brief answer helps!