Somehow I ended up getting a daily email with a “word of the day.” It’s somewhat interesting, but often the word is too show-offy for me.
For example, today’s word was Idée fix, which means “An idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession.”
My attitude is that you should know such words, but not use them. Use “obsession” instead. So my “word of the day” email would explain a difficult word and then give five ways to say the same thing with simpler language.
Is there any context or circumstance where you’d think the “show-offy” word should be used?
Yeah. If you’re trying to show off! 🙂
There are some situations where a particular, more precise word just fits better, so you should use it. But generally speaking I think it’s best to use simpler words.
Thanks. I don’t have a dog in this fight. Just curious as to “if” and “when” more sophisticated language should be used.
In Crowhill’s example, if you’re writing fiction where you’re writing dialogue and want the character to look pretentious, maybe? 🙂
Or you’re writing a period piece — I’ve run across this word enough in literature from the late 19th through mid-20th century (if memory serves) to get the idea that it was more commonly used among educated people than it is now. Or maybe I was just reading about pretentious people.
It is useful, though, to learn words that you’d have little use for, since you do run across them when reading. Which is what I suppose Crowhill meant by the first sentence of the last paragraph.