Political Know-It-All

   If you sound like you know what you're talking about, people will assume you do.

   It's called polysyllabic nomenclature -- a bunch of long words.

   The same concepts or ideas can be said using plain English -- a bunch of short Anglo-Saxon words -- but you don't always sound like you're part of the high ranking, highly intelligent "upper class" supposedly destined to rule the world.

   That tradition goes back to the year 1066, when invaders from Normandy defeated the locals and set up a talking place for their government. In doing so, they used the French term "parliament," rather than the plain English equivalent -- "talking place."

   The tradition has continued, so even today, when you want to sound educated and intelligent, you use a bunch of long words.

   The trick is to use short words that say the same and are more easily understood.

   Political candidates, however, want to sound like they know what they're talking about, even when they don't.

   That's especially true of politicians who really don't know what they're talking about.