Some industries have an affection towards using big words. Sometimes they’re necessary (a type of lumbar surgery needs to be referred to as a laminectomy). But if they’re not, then using them can have the opposite effect. Describing familar ideas with pretencious language can be taken as a sign of poor intellegience.
Below is a snippet from “How to Write Better Copy”, which quotes Daniel Kahneman’s book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”:
This post was inspired by this tweet from Richard Shotton, who was inspired by the book “How to Write Better Copy” by Steve Harrison.