Comment by vova_hn2
3 hours ago
I think that the author is doing it deliberately, to put the reader in the shoes of someone who has a hard time understanding some of the words, and reinforce his point.
As a non-native English speaker there are 4 words in this article that I had to look up, which is significantly higher than a typical article from HN frontpage (usually it's 0, occasionally 1).
If anyone curious, the words are: pellucid, fusillades, pram (idk, why I never heard it. I knew the word "stroller", of course, but I never thought about different kinds of strollers), octogenarian (this one I could have guessed from Latin roots and context, was lazy).
As a native English speaker; pellucid was new to me.
Fusillades specifically was unfamiliar but I inferred if from context and knowing fusilier.
Pram is common in British English. I'm guessing you learned US English, which doesn't use it.
Yes, as slang for ‘perambulator’, which is basically ‘stroller’
Though even in the UK I think it has a slightly old fashioned feel -- I feel like parents are more likely to have a pushchair than a pram.
The word pram doesn't exist in American English, true, but you'll learn it anyway if you ever read Peter Pan.