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When I was a kid, I read (yes, as bizarre as it sounds, I read) the Oxford English Dictionary. I took books from my father's library and bought books with titles like "Power Talk" and "Seven Days to a Bigger Vocabulary." I grilled myself using the "Word Power" vocabularly builder game in Reader's Digest each month. All with the intent of at least appearing erudite with the right word if not a bon mot at the appropriate moment. When I was a kid, a large vocabularly (and the ability to use it correctly) was admired and desired; it telegraphed wit and intellect. So much has changed -- and not for the better.
I was successful. My vocabularly is large and if it weren't for the early-onset Alzheimer's I would have the exact right word for every occasion. It's a little easier when writing because there's typically a time lapse between thought and publication which provides an opportunity to double-check for a more appropo expression. Synonyms (Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of Roget's Thesaurus as well.) are a big part of the equation when trying to control nuance. Consequently, I have a lot of four-syllable words (like the one starting this sentence) at my disposal. It bothers many people.
Understand that using a large vocabulary -- at least in my case -- is not always (at least for me) an attempt to talk over people or throw five-dollar words around when perfectly serviceable twenty-five centers will do. It might just be that the situation calls for an expensive word. Doesn't matter. Where I'm headed is here: I'm tired of continually being told outright to "dumb it down" for people who should not be that "dumb." I'm tired of being snidely put in my place for using those fancy words. I'm tired of apologizing for refusing to pepper my language with Valley-girl all-purpose words and inaccurate descriptions because it is today vogue to reduce ourselves to the lowest common denominator.
If I am putting you off, dear reader, well . . . go somewhere else. In my little world we try to drag the lowest upward to the middle, creating a new low someplace higher, repeatedly. In my world we rise not fall. We aspire to be better individually and as a group. I don't believe in the nail theory whereby the nail that stands the tallest gets pounded down the hardest. In my world all the nails would be reaching skyward and the hammer would be idle. As Jed Bartlett said in one episode of the West Wing, responding to this very problem, "Tell 'em to buy a dictionary."
I mean not to send you away or put you off. I want you here. But here we play by my rules. Strunk & White is the standard by which clear writing is judged. And, yes, they do make a point of keeping it simple and clear and using the simpler of two words or expressions. It is advice precisely consistent with Ockham's Razor: when two alternative explanations for a phenomenon are presented, the simpler is to be preferred (or something like that). But neither prescribes not using or accepting something complicated or sophisticated in the appropriate place. I try to write and speak by that.
All simple language is not the same. My choice is to have simple language in the sense of clear, direct, and precise. The alternate read might be to have simple-ton language which attempts to get the message across with high-frequency, mono-syllabic words. Do what you feel is best.
All right, I feel exorcised. Now off to exercise.
Posted by Grayson at December 22, 2005 07:51 AM