Usually I like CNN Money articles a lot. However, this one gives me pause.
I didn’t do great on the SAT verbal, but I do have a strong vocabulary. It’s so strong that I get blank stares in meetings with my word selection. I also get kudos for the 50 cent words as well, but in the end, I’m kind of known as being stuck up because I use words beyond the ken of my workers. So if you take this advice, be really darned careful how you use that new-fangled vocabulary. Your bosses may love you, but your peers and minions may not.
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Having a mastery of vocabulary is one thing. Being able to turn a clever phrase is another. I’d rather catch the attention of my audience by using well placed words everybody understands than to toss obscure words to them in a misguided attempt to appear smarter.
This is one of those things that could go either way. You could be seen as being stuck up if you use big words simply for the sake of seeming smart – I have the same issue as you that I just use the word I think is correct, and it turns out that my coworkers have no idea what the word “nonplussed” means. It kind of reinforces my image as a supergenius.
My supervisor however has the habit of using big words in totally the wrong way – such as “disseminate”, which she has used to mean both to pass out things such as papers, and to work through a large document and become intimately familiar with its details.
My vocabulary, though outsized in general circles, isn’t nearly as impressive at a publishing house–similarly, no one sees me as stuck-up for making full use of it, which is nice.
I would be very, very wary of throwing in two-dollar words to impress people, especially words one has learned off a list and may not know how to use. Sounding like you’re trying too hard is the easiest way to undercut the impression you make.