A woman in Mammoth Lakes, California, says her father used to offer this advice: “In promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalities, beware of preposterous ponderosities. In other words, don’t use big words.” This particular phrase and variations of it were passed around in 19th century, much like internet memes today. This is part of a complete episode.
Here’s a version of it from 1875:
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