I’ve been watching words I use everyday (more or less) gradually fall out of use during my life. This is fine; that’s how languages are. I’ve also watched the typical vocabulary go down over the same time span. Walter Cronkite used a far larger vocabulary than does even NPR these days. He was a prime time news anchor, and NPR is now considered “high brow” and “elite.” (Not a good sign as to the educational state of health of the “modern world.”)
Many times in my life I’ve been accused of using “big words” in order to show off. Not at all; I use the appropriate word, fine tuned for the exact meaning I am trying to convey at the moment, to the best of my ability. Often I am also adjusting the vocabulary to match the person I am talking with, also to best of my ability. (The latter being very tricky and a thing that takes much practice, which is why most scientists and many doctors shouldn’t even try to speak to the general public or to reporters unless they have mastered the ability to switch out vocabulary sets.)
Alright, fine. These days I have noticed a phenomenon on the internet: I find increasingly certain words that are normal in my world being labelled as obsolete, or even as … jeepers! … pretentious! Eh? The use of a word is pretentious? Undoubtedly they are thinking that there are “simpler” words that “mean the same thing,” so the only reason to use the other is to show off.
Well, what just occurred to me (and thus caused this posting) is that that very pronouncement is itself pretentious. Perhaps even self-righteous.
Pretentious? The use of ordinary words for exact meaning is pretentious? Any attempt to converse with a high level of precision soon focuses on the words instead of the communication? No wonder Humans have wars and marital troubles and political speeches that mean anything or even nothing at all.
Wow. I can think of several really common and really short words to describe that situation! I’ll bet you can too.