Why you sometimes deliberately use difficult words | Thijs Launspach

“The topics you deal with are important, but you talk like a dictionary!” I was still looking at that e-mail from a stranger. A friend who had been to a presentation of mine put it more subtly: she sent me an list of words which you can replace with simpler ones without any problems. You can also simply use ‘to see’ for the verb ‘observe’. Why say ‘develop’ when you can also say ‘build’? The message was clear: say professor, could it be a little less with that difficult language?

Fair criticism, of course. I also tend to use difficult words sometimes. Sometimes it’s because a technical word describes exactly what I mean. Your amygdala, for example, the brain region that is important for emotions and fear, that thing just has it. And sometimes it stems from my love of language, of beautiful words or of old-fashioned expressions. However, my preference for archaic language is, so to speak, disastrous for readability, and as a result the reader immediately goes elsewhere…

But sometimes, I hate to admit, it’s also out of insecurity. If I don’t feel completely comfortable, or I feel I have to be very careful with my language, a deliberately difficult word sometimes creeps in. With dry eyes I say things like ‘this is not meant proscriptively, but descriptively!’ and then look at it very seriously. The more awkward, the more vague my language. It’s a kind of bluff: look how smart I am, with all those difficult words!

Super annoying feature of course, I’m not proud of it. It’s true: the more complicated your language, the less people understand what you’re saying. It makes a text less understandable. I also have it when I read a policy document or tax letter. Then I think: what do you mean, gap!?

Language is not meant to exclude people (‘this text is only for people who know these fancy words!’) but to be available to everyone. I therefore resolve to use clear language where possible and avoid difficult words. You can hold me to it. Sometimes you can’t avoid using a complicated word when there isn’t a simpler word to explain it. But if it can be simpler, simpler is better!

Thijs Launspach is a psychologist and stress expert. He is the author of, among others, You are already enough – Mental health in a disturbed world (2022), Work can also be done (2020) and Fokking busy (2018).