Big words!

[Zoltan]

Subsequent to producing an apparently prodigious, yet maddeningly ethereal cloud of nauseating flatulence, expelled with a great, reverberating, ripping belch from what could only be--judging from the malodorousness of its effluvium--horribly tainted bowels, the tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "Krath."

That's how I get around my need to use "big words". I don't like to make my random commoners speak all nice-like. I don't fault people for playing PCs with a background that supports it, though. One fun thing about playing a certain role was the ability to make my character talk more-or-less up to my writing level, which was an utterly new experience for me. I may have played too many drawlin' cowpokes in my time on Arm.  Ooh, for bonus points, it's fun to utterly misuse fancy words your characters overhear from time to time.

[boog]

I love misusing big words uttered by templars or nobles, mispronouncing, mis-everythinging.

[Kalai]

I enjoy all the varied speech patterns folk come up with, whether or not I feel willing to put in the work myself of not knowing things.

[Samoa]

Subsequent to producing an apparently prodigious, yet maddeningly ethereal cloud of nauseating flatulence, expelled with a great, reverberating, ripping belch from what could only be--judging from the malodorousness of its effluvium--horribly tainted bowels, the tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "Krath."

...moontug?

[Samoa]

I usually use big words just because you often only have so long to compose a reply, and I would rather not take two or three minutes for a 'say' because I am trying to think of how to dumb down my language. Discarding my own knowledge of vocabulary is hard -- and while I know my character mightn't use certain words, I often just can't help it.

I try to cull some words out when I can think of a simpler synonym, although as a point of discussion, I often use advanced words in psionics (as well as remove any typed accent), to represent the nature of the non-verbal communication.

[Intrepid237]

I try to cull some words out when I can think of a simpler synonym, although as a point of discussion, I often use advanced words in psionics (as well as remove any typed accent), to represent the nature of the non-verbal communication.

I do the same thing. And if i'm a Dwarf or an Elf, I use bigger words and better grammar when speaking Allundean or Mirukkim.

[Reiloth]

People using big words reminds me of the Wild West. (Like Deadwood).

[Majikal]

People using big words reminds me of the Wild West. (Like Deadwood).

[BleakOne]

People should say 'fixin' more.

[Reiloth]

I use reckon and highfaluting on a regular basis.

[a strange shadow]

On a semi-related note, I've always seen Armageddon as a bit more 'desert western' than I have 'arabian nights' (with the exception of the tribal cultures).

What with all the hats, dusters, and swagger.

This is a good thing.

[NOFUN]

Then there's those commoners who can count well into the hundreds.
Problem is, when this happens I can't tell if the character has received some form of education or is being played poorly. (Don't get me wrong, I had no clue what one small meant until my second PC)
The usual reaction is just say (blinking) Huh?

[HavokBlue]

You don't need to know every number between one and a hundred to offer to buy something for X-hundred coins or whatever. You might argue that it would be difficult to count out that many coins, but then that's where you have to suspend disbelief for playability, right along with the part where people carry around a thousand stone coins.

[musashi]

I would rather someone use big words than do the thing where they w'it' ou' 'heir PC's a''en' l'ke ''is.

[Barzalene]

There's this whole vast world between counting and trigonometry. You really have an issue with people doing basic math?

Johnny can't read, but he sure as fuck knows when you try to stiff him on that rock he just sold you.

[Barzalene]

Illiterate doesn't mean stupid.

[Thunkkin]

Johnny can't read or count very well. But Nenyuk told him that the stacks of coins he just withdraw were in 50 sid piles each. He then passes those piles on to you. ZOMG ILLEGAL COUNTING?!!! Or relying on the banksters?  Hard to know ...

[brytta.leofa]

tell red (humbly) I don't need literacy for logarithms, Great Lord.

[Barzalene]

You seriously can't make a distinction between counting and logarithms? Really? Really?

[brytta.leofa]

...I wasn't actually being sarcastic.  By logarithms I mean digits, so you can count large numbers in a tight space.  I think most commoners in any sort of commerce would be able to do this.

[Ocotillo]

On a semi-related note, I've always seen Armageddon as a bit more 'desert western' than I have 'arabian nights' (with the exception of the tribal cultures).

What with all the hats, dusters, and swagger.

This is a good thing.

I've always seen it as a kind of delicious blend. Like nachos.

[NOFUN]

The reason I can't count in French is because I've never been taught too. I assume if I spent a life-time there without being taught I'd pick up something simple like one to ten. (Assuming the rest of the common population didn't know how to count, either)

Now, keeping in mind that if I were to use something familiar to me (such as English counting) they're not going to have a clue what it is I'm trying to say. In such a situation, I'd say something like I'll give you ten ten euros for that watch, since if I said a hundred to some one who doesn't speak English won't understand me.

If I were in Zalanthas however, I'd say something the lines of I'll give you a small and a quarter. (being 125 stone coins, and I think a commoner would be aware that a small=ten piles of ten coins. They would know what a half is because of the existance of half-elves and a quarter isn't too hard of a concept to understand, either.)
Should that commoner really know he's twenty three years old?
It seems the more logical answer would be "something around quarter of a small" or "two tens and something" rather than being told straight out that he's twenty three. This way I know that I'm speaking to a character who is uneducated, or is pretending to be for some reason or another.

Not bitching about an IC event, just an example.

[Bilanthri]

Counting is not language-specific. The whole world uses base-10 for a reason...those wiggling little digits at the ends of your arms. Whatever you call the various numbers, you are always using 0 through 9, and counting money is a perfect illustration of how simple this is: Make a stack of ten, then repeat until you have ten stacks, then repeat until you have ten sets of ten stacks, etc.

Knowing the language comes with immersion. If you spent a year in France with no opportunity to speak in your native tongue, you would most certainly learn the words for how much money you have to spend on a regular basis. Again, there is a misnomer that being ignorant of the written form is equivalent to being stupid, which is not the case.

To count to 9999 in English, you only need to know 37 distinct words.

Edit: 38 if you have an understanding of zero (Greeks didn't, but Arabs did).

[Reiloth]

Also with large denominations of coins, I sometimes play it as there being bigger chits. I mean, carrying around 2000 coins is kind of ridiculous.

[a strange shadow]

Also with large denominations of coins, I sometimes play it as there being bigger chits. I mean, carrying around 2000 coins is kind of ridiculous.

Same, but then I was told that there are no larger denominations of coins. However, I feel comfortable bucking trend on that and RPing it anyway, because, yeah.