xkcd #2942: Fluid Speech
Alt text:
Thank you to linguist Gretchen McCulloch for teaching me about phonetic assimilation, and for teaching me that if you stand around in public reading texts from a linguist and murmuring example phrases to yourself, people will eventually ask if youโre okay.
Pseudo-intellectual. A clear communicator uses the simplest, precise word that has the precise meaning they intend, reaching most commonly for the Germanic vocabulary unless they need the subtler shades of meaning from the Latinate. A pseudo-intellectual uses Latinate vocabulary to conceal what theyโre actually saying or to intimidate people who arenโt as comfortable on the Latinate side of the fence. Itโs a form of intellectual bullying that, to my mind, makes the person using it look insecure (not to mention likely dishonest).
A good communicatorโs motto should be โeschew gratuitous obfuscation (see what I mean?)โ.