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Anytime you write to impress someone, whether it's a school paper or a memo to your boss, you'll face that terrible question: Do I just say it, or do I dress it up a little? It's not a small question. The more important it is to make an impression, the more you'll want to show the reader how smart you are. It's human. But is it smart? All general rules are wrong, including this one. But as a general rule... the best way to make sure your audience knows what you're saying is to use the simplest words you can. Consider this: Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost always makes me high. And if I had a day that I could give you, I'd give to you a day just like today. And if I had a song that I could sing for you, I'd sing a song to make you feel this way. I defy you to say that better using bigger words. Of course, we aren't all John Denver. And poetry (whether it's song lyrics or other kinds of verse) will follow different rules than novels or scholarly essays. But the idea is there. There are only a few good reasons to use big words: Sometimes they're the only words you've got. If you're talking about a specialized subject, you may need a specialized language. Try to describe fixing an (older) automobile engine without ever mentioning a carburetor or a transmission or a differential. By the time you pile up enough simple words to describe the things, you've lost your reader. So you'll just have to use the ten-dollar pile of letters and assume the audience knows the words too. The same thing happens in medicine, or law, or literature--or any field that has specialized knowledge. You deal with it. Sometimes the simple words just don't cover the ground. There's an old saw that says Eskimos have a hundred different words for "snow." It's a myth, but there's some truth behind it. We have thirty or forty in our language, if you look hard enough. Think about the difference between "powder" and "slush." Or ask a gardener about "dirt." A lot of other words are like that, too--and not just "specialty" words. "Endeavor," for instance, means "try"--but not exactly. It's more like, "make a serious effort at this--probably with a carefully thought-out plan." It's more intense and deliberate than "simply" trying. Maybe that's what you're endeavoring to get across. If so, then use the word. Just make sure the word you're using really means what you think it does--and that there isn't a more universal way of saying it. Sometimes your audience won't take you seriously if you don't speak their language. This doesn't happen as often as a lot of people think, but it does happen. There really are people out there who think that anyone can talk about "doing something slowly, carefully, in stages, and stopping every so often to make sure it's working"--but think it takes somebody smart to discuss "incremental implementation with periodic precautionary review." (The painful part is, there are specialists out there who use words like that the way car nuts use "carburetor"--because "change in stages" isn't precise enough. But if you're writing for those people you already know why they say it that way.) You have to write so your audience will pay attention. So someday you might have to use "intestinal fortitude" when you mean "guts." When that time comes, you have my blessing--and my condolences. Meanwhile, here we are talking about something you want everybody to talk about. So use words everybody uses. When you use a word your reader isn't comfortable with, he might stop reading. If you use a word you're not comfortable with, you might lose your reader for an entirely different reason. And that rule doesn't change for class papers, however exalted the class. If you toss around jawbreakers in a "general subject" paper, your professor might conclude that you think he's one of those pretentious, ah, persons who think "elocution" is inherently better than "talking." And that's the best case. At worst you'll say 'maroon' instead of 'red' and he'll think, "If he knew anything about colors he'd know that thing is burgundy!" thesis service
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