As an English-learner, vocabulary is always the part that annoys me the most. Unlike other science subjects, there are almost no rules, no logics and no formulas for vocabulary and the only solution is to memorize the words painfully. Back to the old days when I was studying for the SAT test in high school, those intimidating word lists often made me wonder if I just started learning English couple days ago. The frustration resulted from keeping forgetting the words and keeping realizing how limited my vocabulary was every time I saw brand-new words appeared on the test stirred up the question that whether complicated vocabulary is indeed needed in our lives. However, as I step into college, where intense readings and writings are required, I gradually realize the instrumental role that the complicated words have been playing in language, since they assist the writers in conveying the subtlest feelings, presenting the process as precisely as possible and improving communication efficiency, especially if the writings are related to science, law, medicine and other academic subjects.
Even though complex terms add a sense of maturity and readability to the passages, they must be used in a prudent way that the article will remain succinct and comprehensible. Today, many writers, including myself, choose long and obscure words over the simple and hackneyed words in order to avoid baldness. Such choices are reasonable unless the writers intend to flaunt their educational backgrounds when composing: they typically over exaggerate the role of vocabulary and ignore the essential part of the writing–their unique opinions. This improper use of unfamiliar words also interferes with comprehension and slows the readers down. Understanding such article is a bit similar to finding the exit to a labyrinth: in order to reach the authors’ ideas, readers are forced to try different routes; as authors employ more and more perplexing words, numerous obstacles will emerge in the path. In the end, readers will have no other choice but to give up and the authors’ messages will be left undelivered. The Onion piece, “Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text”, gives a perfect example of this situation. The reporter of the article portrays how people panic about that large piece of text, which consists of only 500 words: “Dumbfounded citizens from Maine to California gazed helplessly at the frightening chunk of print, unsure of what to do next” and “Sources also reported a 450 percent rise in temple rubbing and under-the-breath cursing around this time (Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text, the onion.com). It may sound ridiculous for people to be incapable of reading an article at this length, but with the confusing vocabulary used impeding the readers, this embarrassing situation is understandable. The author of this article obviously fails to express his or her point by applying wrong diction. All in all, the whole purpose of language is to communicate instead of impressing other. To prevent the readers from losing focus and concentrating on figuring out what one word might mean while reading, authors should consider more about how to interact more efficiently with the readers using proper dictions and follow what Orwell suggests: “ Never use a long word where a short one will do” and “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out”, or the articles will immediately become meaningless (Politics and the English Language, mtholyoke.edu).
We live in a time that we are bombarded by the excessively abundant information thanks to the flying transmission speed brought by the Internet. In order to keep up with this fast changing world, information must be shared as clearly, succinctly and rapidly as possible; thus, complicated vocabulary should be abandoned, especially in the media world, where every second counts. Nowadays, whichever media, no matter TV channel, social media or website, first reports the unexpected incident, that media gains the most attention and, of course, the most economic benefits. In order to reach this goal, every tache on the report chain has to pass the information as quickly as possible; in addition, since the viewers start to pay more attention to the actual information they can obtain from the news and pay less attention to in which form the information is expressed, news does not need to be as formal as it used to be before. In Lanham’s Writing for Nonreaders, the section, “I Can Haz Writin Skillz”, which focuses on “perfecting tweeting, blogging, and short-form writing skills”, illustrates that same message can be delivered but in a much clearer way by abandoning complicated and using simple vocabulary (Writing for Nonreaders, mcsweeneys.net). This shortened form of writing wonderfully satisfies the media’s special need of passing information quickly. Thus, when composing, writers need to take the circumstances under which they are writing into account and select the appropriate diction.
However, when writing serious articles such as lab reports and petitions, complicated vocabulary is extremely needed to describe the exact things that have happened to avoid ambiguity. Chemistry is a subject that when performing experiments, one may apply considerable amount of techniques and apparatus, even though the task itself may seem easy. The rubric for lab reports in my chemistry lab manual specifically states that the report has to be written in such a way that “anyone should be able to reproduce an experiment if the experimental procedures are appropriately documented” (Bottomley, 16); hence, any seemly small errors in wording may set off a chain reaction that is beyond imagination, just like the butterfly effect depicted in the comic. For example, for the simple observation that the temperature of the solution increases after an extra gram of solute is added, if we prefer simple words, we will phrase the sentence into “the solution absorbed energy from the environment”. However, in chemistry, energy comes in different forms: Gibbs free energy, heat, work, etc. Hence, the word “energy” in that statement can be interpreted as any forms of energy and becomes misleading. If, instead, we choose “endothermic”, readers will immediately realize that it is the heat the writer is talking about and Gibbs free energy for the word “endergonic”. Therefore, for academic writings, complicated words must be chosen to maintain the report’s preciseness.
Moreover, using complicated vocabulary simplifies the process since this type of writing has been set as a standard form by the official organization. Still in the field of science, when reading other’s reports, scientists are able to comprehend easily what each complicated word is referring to since they would word their articles in the same way. Also, as Orwell laughs at how bad writers are “nearly haunted by the notion that Latin or Greek words are grander than Saxon ones”, he certainly does not realize the usefulness Latin or Greek words have in lawsuits (Politics and the English Language, mtholyoke.edu). “Alibi”, for example, a legalese from Latin, is defined as “the plea of having been at the time of the commission of an act elsewhere than at the place of commission” (Alibi, Merriam-Webster.com). Instead of writing down “the suspect is unable to prove when and where he was at the time of the crime”, “the suspect does not have an alibi” certainly reduces the length of the sentence and improves the reading speed. Since large volume of documents are often involved in lawsuits, the use of such “complicated” Latin words, in fact, does contribute to enhance the efficiency, which is also beneficial for poor plaintiffs and defendants who may not be able to afford the expensive retaining fee once the cases are dragged on. Therefore, complicated terminology is highly recommended to use for certain areas that advanced knowledge are required for the ease of communication, even though it may take some time to master at first.
Easy vocabulary and complicated vocabulary do not necessarily stand on the opposite side of each other, as long as they are used under appropriate circumstances. Delimitating when complex vocabulary should be used helps those who are new to composition to prevent it to become hindrance to the messages being conveyed.
Work Cited
- Bottomley, Leigh. CHEM 1211K/1212K, Chemical Principles Laboratory Manual, 2012-2013, p.16
- Lanham, Robert. “Writing for Nonreaders.” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
- Merriam-Webster. “Alibi.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
- “Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text.” Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text. N.p., 09 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
- Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” 1946. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
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