To the OP - you're lucky you didn't get punched.
I myself would have felt a desire to punch you had you said the same to me. However I would have subliminated it into a sarcastic remark, of the same type as your collegue.
I've studied for both a MA and a MSc at different universities, I've earned good money as a creative writer, and also doing technician / engineering work (fixing computers or welding heavy metal)
Some of the most intelligent people I've ever met have been practically unable to read or write. I play a mean game of chess, but I've been thrashed by a homeless bum who made all his moves instantly while chatting to his mates, swigging his 3-litre bottle of Diamond extra-strong cider and complaining about the length of time I was taking to consider my next move.
A couple of years ago, while on a playwriting project, I had to work with one guy who loved to use big words. Problem was he didn't know the precise meaning of many of them. But he felt a need to constantly make a point that he was more intelligent and better educated than the likes of you or me. His emails were almost unreadable.
In this case, short and clear would have been better than long and abtruse using 50 cent words to do a 5 cent job. You just made yourself look like a fool. As was pointed out above, you also made two basic English mistakes in your post here. [self defense: I'm not perfect either].
Another example? I follow the Linux/IBM vs SCO case on and off. The court papers filed by the SCO lawyers, who are paid a whole $50 per hour and have a very high opinion of themselves, are almost unreadable gibberish with lots of high-faultin jargon. The responses by the IBM lawyers who are genuinely *the best* in the world, who get paid more like $500/ hour, are models of clarity and plain speaking, with the minimum necessary jargon, and that was clearly explained in context.
As a writer, I was extremely impressed. Even I, with little legal background, could clearly understand the obscure legal points the IBM team were making.
My point? It's easy to use english badly. Some like to use it as a tool to beat other people about the head.
It's a much higher skill, and much harder, much more valuable to be able to use it to commmunicate clearly and concisely - without degrading your vision one bit.
If I were you [the OP], I would go back to the guy and say 'hey man you caught me at a bad time. I wanted to make myself feel better. I'll have a proper look at the plug now / next time.'
You also mentioned speaking like a redneck when you go back to college. No. What true academicans really value is the ability to express a complex idea in clear and precise language without dressing it up in unneccessary verbiage.
Yes your lecturers probably use complex language, but the real genuises of their field (any field) are models of clarity. Feynnman's lectures are often given to teenagers to read, they're so clear, even tho he was describing new areas of physics theory.
Don't feel too bad. I made the same mistake when I was fresh out of college and eager to show off what a bright annoying spark I was. I suspect most people here have
True maturity is in being able to move past that and accept people as equals irrespective of their education.
Hope this helps. I guess you pushed a sore button with me, as I often work with Deaf people who are seen as dumb cos they don't know many words in English, yet when I talk to them in Sign Language (I have near native fluency in it) they can beat me into the ground with their mad signing skills.
cheers
.. Red Tomato ..
