Deleterious? Really?
Most professionals and serious writers have in their arsenal a bagful of twenty-dollar words. Even some hundred-dollar words. Such marvels as “deleterious”, “eponymous” and “labyrinthine” are wonderful in their places, but when used in all but a few narrow situations can make you sound pompous. The trick is to know when, and when not, to use these wonderwords.
To be fair, language is always in flux, and terms and expressions easily pass from one usage plane to another. “Upshot” and “rollicking”, for instance, formerly came only out of the mouths of academics, but somewhat recently have found their way into journalism and, occasionally, everyday speech.
At least in my rural corner of the world, where character counts for more than certificates, such words will probably mark you as “one of them” rather than “one of us”. It’s exactly this distinction which can guide us when we use language which may be common to our professional community, but rarely used in the language of our audience.
There is an identical rule when the usage is going the other way, that is, when you are trying to be “cool” with an audience by throwing around words common to them, but not to you. Whether it’s an Anglo tossing out French Canadian cuss words or a Dad trying to impress his kid’s friends, one will almost certainly miss nuances, further proof that you are an outsider.
Given that using language inappropriate to your audience generally does more harm than good, here are some hints:
1. Intention is everything. Your audience will pick that up in your first sentence. If you’re trying to impress by talking big or by talking down, you’re toast. If you’re perceived as an innocent, you may get away with it, but at the risk of being labelled “cute”.
2. There is a broad band of acceptable and effective language. If you work within that band you’ll be able to get almost any audience to tune in, assuming that your other communication skills are up to the task. This “broad band of acceptable and effective language” is typically that used by public radio and TV news broadcasts, as well as newspapers which don’t feature the Sunshine Girl.
3. If the audience loves you before you open your mouth, you can get away with a lot. But, if they’re not well disposed toward you at the outset, using the wrong tone will simply confirm that you are not their kind.
4. If your audience decides you are an outsider, you’re pretty well finished. However, if you are very sincere, or if you are terrifying, or perhaps very, very pathetic, the audience may hear you out and understand your message, but you won’t win their hearts.
5. The wider your language-band, the greater audience reception you will achieve.
6. Never talk down.
7. Never talk up.
8. If you want to reach specific audiences, learn to speak their languages natively. The great communicator has a quiver full of styles and language levels appropriate to different audiences. But this only works if you have the credentials to match your language.
9. Don’t be afraid to use a twenty-dollar word if it has a precise meaning which allows you to describe something more exactly and economically. But if you do so, do your darned best not to sound high-falutin!
10. When speaking and writing in a professional setting, if you have to choose between “sounding professional” and making your point, always go with making your point.