Once as an intern I had to write an email about some random issue we were having at the time. I wasn’t trying to sound smart or anything, just writing as I saw fit. Showed to my boss before sending and he just said ‘ok, let’s change this a bit’. It was a good thing, because I learned to be more aware of context when talking/writing.
I have been subject of a similar critique in a professional setting. My response was to ask if they also contacted the authors of books to use more primitive words when they failed to understand the text. I love to hear or read unusual words and my first instinct is to reach for a dictionary or if it’s slang it’s often fun to play with the words. We want our audience to understand us but removing the flourishes sterilises language in the way that a patent lawyer renders a text into very precise but ultimately joyless verbiage.
Once as an intern I had to write an email about some random issue we were having at the time. I wasn’t trying to sound smart or anything, just writing as I saw fit. Showed to my boss before sending and he just said ‘ok, let’s change this a bit’. It was a good thing, because I learned to be more aware of context when talking/writing.
I have been subject of a similar critique in a professional setting. My response was to ask if they also contacted the authors of books to use more primitive words when they failed to understand the text. I love to hear or read unusual words and my first instinct is to reach for a dictionary or if it’s slang it’s often fun to play with the words. We want our audience to understand us but removing the flourishes sterilises language in the way that a patent lawyer renders a text into very precise but ultimately joyless verbiage.