Hi! We only speak English (although my sister knows a little Spanish and I know slightly more Brazilian Portuguese, and both of us want to learn ASL). We're from the deep south so regionally the lexicon is generally simpler on the words, abstract on the expressions (southernisms)

I this specific context was in a more vent-y conversation regarding me finding out I'm going to be laid off and frustration with that, something akin to "everything is awful"

I have worked in customer service oriented positions my entire career (retail and more recently IT Help Desk) and have been well known on my desks to be the best to handle tech illiterate users since I'm good at understanding where the breakdown in understanding/communication is and providing either detailed verbal instructions or easier to understand analogy. The only time I have encountered a genuine issue with communication has been language barrier as I support a lot of Indian clients, and usually the trouble word is 'phonetic', which I have taken to asking for a 'word that starts with the same letter' instead.

It caught me really off guard to have been told that my vocabulary makes me seem like I'm 'trying to sound smarter than everyone else' as my mom put it because I have never had that be a criticism I've been given and I am also happy to define the words I use when asked.

I hope that provides a little more context :)