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Writer's pictureChanel Rion

SCIOLIST

(SIGH-o-list) -- (n.) A person who pretends to be well-informed but has only superficial knowledge; a self-proclaimed expert who actually understands very little.


Why this Latin word ever died is an utter mystery. It describes a common and infuriating human thorn who, at their worst, end up writing our laws and spending our money and at their best, are hapless bullies who test the patience of angels. Sciolists are ubiquitous -- insufferable know-it-alls who have nothing better to do than tell everyone else how things work. We inherited this word from the Latin 'sciolus' -- which means "smatterer;" someone who speaks with spotty or no knowledge. The practice of sciolism is exercised by those who are blindly arrogant about their own worth and whose narcissism levels are only surpassed by the shallow depths of their understanding. Unfortunately, this word is not only all around us, but as obnoxious as it is, we have all engaged in an episode of sciolism at one point or another. Some more frequently than others but nonetheless, sciolists we have been and may sometimes be. So here's to being aware of the awful state of sciolism -- and here's to avoiding it as best we humanly can.


~Wordeby's by Chanel Rion


🦋 ART: "The Meeting" (1884) by Marie Bashkirtseff

🦋 STYLE: Realism, Naturalism

🦋 NATIONALITY: Ukrainian, Russian


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