Weird words are ok!

The embrace of plain speaking and plain writing is great. We should all strive to make what we say clear and accessible. Using great swathes of jargon or technical language, or unnecessarily arcane language don’t make you look smart and don’t help get your message across. 

Worse, they can suggest to the reader that you either don’t care enough to be clear, or aren’t capable of it. Of course, technical language does have its place, and can signpost that you have the specialised expertise required, as well as ensuring a shared understanding when it comes to the ‘nitty gritty’ details in a technical area. But if you can’t translate what you are proposing into a quick ‘elevator pitch’ you probably have some work to do.

Respecting your audience by making your language clear and appropriate to them, and the situation, are critical. But embracing plain English does not need to mean discarding any words that may be unfamiliar.

We all need to hear any new word a ‘first time’ and new words can be a gift. Understanding or ‘best guessing’ what a word is likely to mean from its context is also a key skill in comprehension. Is it really so bad if you send your reader off to a dictionary now and then? Our language will only be only the richer for it.