Is it distasteful to use big words?
I don’t think it’s necessarily distasteful, unless you’re doing it to try and make yourself appear to be smarter, in which case it IS distasteful AND you’re probably going to wind up with the opposite result. However, I feel it’s worse in the long run to “dumb down” your vocabulary, solely because others may find it condescending or elitist. Why not hold ourselves to higher standards and not simply pander to the most base and under-educated among us? I don’t mean to put anyone down or be elitist, but I honestly feel the more we try to reduce our language the less expressive we can ultimately be. And that, in a broad cultural view, I fear would be far worse for us all.
