Why do people use big words?

[sabo]

I use bigger words because if I tried to explain it with smaller words it might run into a sentence trying to explain it. For instance with word "Quintessencial"
which means "the Highest essence of" or the "Purest for of"
I don't know any smaller word which I could substitute.

 

[Neomega]

Big words are good.

They help people who don't know them get abetter understanding of the English language. There is almost always a better word.

Being concise is key.

 

[stormbind]

Why is it that some people use big words when a little word would suffice? ... and just ends up confusing people, REDUCING the ease at which listeners/readers can understand, and causing confusion, especially if someone doesn't know what the word means.

I believe there is a psychological condition in which people resort to extravagant words, presumably in an effort to make themselves sound better educated. I'm not a psychologist and cannot expand on that.

My English stinks, but when writing published material, I aim for easilly understood text, which pretty much rules out obscure words. I have no idea if I succeed in that though

 

[Neomega]

I use big words naturally. They help those who hear them, and save breath and time for both parties involved.

There is nothing wrong with spreading knowledge and vocabulary. It is for the better that people use big words.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I've been described as a person to whom it would never occur to use two short word where one long could be employed.

Basically, I tend to use the first word for a concept that comes to my mind. If someone finds the result too stuffed with "big" words, well, they're free to not read my posts.

 

[stormbind]

I use bigger words because if I tried to explain it with smaller words it might run into a sentence trying to explain it. For instance with word "Quintessencial"
which means "the Highest essence of" or the "Purest for of"
I don't know any smaller word which I could substitute.

Quintessential: Principal, optimised, flawless ...

Not that I'm the spelling the police or anything. If I were, I'd have to be a corrupt constable, following the keenest philosophy of double standards

 

[stormbind]

I use big words naturally. They help those who hear them, and save breath and time for both parties involved.

The quoted concept would serve only to limit audience numbers. Did you stop to think about the partially sighted, poorly educated, or dyslexic?

There is a policy in the UK advocating that all published materials should be written in plain english, to prevent wanten confusion, and encourage equal opportunities.

If you read the letters of some barristers and the like, you would see why a government agency was needed, to step in and promote the use of simpler language.

 

[WillJ]

Why do people use big words?

ME DUNNO EITHER

 

[Neomega]

If you read the letters of some barristers and the like, you would see why a government agency was needed, to step in and promote the use of simpler language.

Here comes the government, to make sure people stay dumb. "Why, we can't have people learning! Thay might figure out what we are really up to!"

I mean, why would the government do something so counter-productive?

People can learn vocabulary, especially if it is in their native language.

If they do not care to learn, they must not care about the issue enough.

 

[The Last Conformist]

There is a policy in the UK advocating that all published materials should be written in plain english, to prevent wanten confusion, and encourage equal opportunities.

If you read the letters of some barristers and the like, you would see why a government agency was needed, to step in and promote the use of simpler language.

It cuts both ways. I newpaper I occasionally read has a page with news in "simple Swedish" - I find it harder to read than normal news articles, since I'm not used to that kind of text, and since the aggressive use of short sentences makes it feel very "bumpy".

 

[stormbind]

Somewhat related to the topic, are British police signs. The language used in them is very weak, filled with grammatical inconsistency, and they sometimes require interpretation.

This is an example of where equal opportunities has backfired. I cannot respect those who I perceive as being like big hairy gorillas, with a speech impediment. Thus, I find it exceedingly hard to respect individual police officers.

 

[stormbind]

If they do not care to learn, they must not care about the issue enough.

In the case of lawyers, they can write a letter using extremely complex english, knowing full well that the customer will come back to have it's contents explained. That scenario results in more time taken, and a bigger pay cheque, which I believe Americans call anti-trust.

It's also unfair to people seeking advice. Say, for example, you were a poorly educated adult seeking information on government financial aid for mature students, but all the details were written in such complexity that you must first go back to school in order to understand it.

Worse case scenarios would be debt advice, where quick action is required, or emergency procedures making up part of an immediate response.

"Why, we can't have people learning! Thay might figure out what we are really up to!"

The inverse is true. The policy started as a means of helping the general public to understand what government does.

 

[Mescalhead]

Similarly, contrived sounds like an insult, but it's not really (although it is a negative adjective), so the first time my English teacher wrote "sounds rather contrived", I thought she was insulting me (at the time I thought it meant narrow minded or something like that), but she was just taking the piss out of my plot cos it was a bit weird.

Contrived is an excellent word. You would need a few words to replace it, therefore it seems necessary to me.

What's really funny, though, is when people use big words, but use them wrong, like my mum does all the time, or say them wrong, like irregardless.

I wonder why irregardless is so often used.

 

[Neomega]

It's also unfair to people seeking advice. Say, for example, you were a poorly educated adult seeking information on government financial aid for mature students, but all the details were written in such complexity that you must first go back to school in order to understand it.

wnat to go back to college eh? Without a good vocabulary... perhaps professors should be forced to dumb down their language as well. We'll just force the whole world to get dumber, for the sake of the dumb.

This reminds me of the outright dumbness of liberalism. Instead of encouraging people to be their best, it tries to equalize everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

The inverse is true. The policy started as a means of helping the general public to understand what government does.

Helping them? WHy don't they just define the legal terms, financial terms, or whatever terms may be foreign to an average reader, (as done in most contracts), and leave the actaul understanding of less used words to the reader and their dictionary.

Governments always propose solutions for non-problems, that make everything worse. This is a classic case.

 

[Brainly]

'Cause they have a big mouth.

 

[~Corsair#01~]

Because, using big words is a way of showing superiority to those who don't. Also, you can gloat when others don't understand.

 

[Neomega]

Because, using big words is a way of showing superiority to those who don't. Also, you can gloat when others don't understand.

I am always happy to explain the meaning if someone doesn't understand, and inversely, always ask if I don't understand. It is one of the joys of learning.

 

[amadeus]

People want sound smart.

Me go eat food now.

 

[Milan's Warrior]

I am speaking as a foreigners whose mother tongue is not English, but Italian.

I tend to use words that have a similar spelling in Italian, so I do use vociferous (that in Italian is vociferante) while I am not naturally prone to use loud that has no close Italian correspondent.

Unfortunately, most words which have an Italian correspondent are "big" words.
So, I say "to ululate" rather than "to howl", much to the dismay of some of my american friends

 

[Perfection]

I'm often criticised for using "big words" in my school. It's not that I'm intentionally trying to alienate my classmates. It's just that I think with a much larger vocabulary than my peers. I think subconciously they envy me.