Several years ago I took the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) so I could get into grad school. In addition to the quantitative (math) and analytical writing sections the exam includes a section devoted to analogies, completions, and reading comprehensions. This “verbal” section is all about the vocabulary.
Look, I know words. I use words all the time. But the vocabulary tested on the GRE are unlike any words I (or any normal person) use in day-to-day life. They are long, difficult-to-pronounce words with multiple syllables and limited conversational value. Unfortunately, they are also required knowledge if you want to be considered educated enough to be educated.
C’mon people, the purpose of communicating is to create and exchange meaning. If I’m communicating with someone who doesn’t understand what I’m trying to say because I used big words, zero communication occurs. On the contrary, if I refrain from using big words and we can both understand what’s being said then communication does occur. <– also referred to as winning.
Big Words Can Create Confusion
When a big word user talks to a small word knower lots can impact the message. Ever have a conversation with an intellectual who used a big word incorrectly? How ironic (or is it?) Ever use a word that is a word only because it’s been misused so many times people have stopped fighting its exclusion from the English language? I’m talking to you irregardless. Or what about when people use a ridiculously big word to communicate an important message only to completely alienate their audience? This is exactly what happened in the last election when politicians kept saying Americans felt disenfranchised for one reason or another. And when reporters took to the streets and asked people if such and such made them feel disenfranchised, many responded, “I don’t know, but I don’t fell like I had a say in what happened.”
Big Words ≠ Smart
Regardless of their use or misuse, people will continue to use big words not to communicate, but as a symbol of their perceived intellectual status. Know a bunch of ‘em and you’ll have lots of badges for your vernacular vest. Know a few and you’re a big dummy with a Good Enough Diploma. I got news for you big word knowers, knowing and using big words does not mean you are smarter than someone who does not. It only means that you know big words.
Final Thoughts
There’s a reason television news reports on a 6th grade level, newspapers write on an 8th grade level, and I write on a 9th grade level. It is much easier to communicate in terms that everyone will understand, than to limit communication to the pedantic minority.
BTW, technical words (words specific to a trade or occupation where no synonym exists) are not included under the umbrella of big words as these words have a very specific context (like “boolean” does for programmers). I’m more annoyed by the lawyers, doctors, and educators who choose to confuse the message using flowery language making it impossible to figure out what is actually being communicated. Got thoughts? Leave ‘em below or send me an e-mail at TiTy@y2kemo.com.
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