[Teresa Edgerton]

But that's just it, Leisha, very often when people complain about words they don't understand, the context gives a pretty good idea of what the author is talking about.

And it isn't about memorizing unfamiliar words ... it's about surrounding ourselves with influences that make those words familiar, and then passing them on.


Anyway, like scalem, I'm often astounded by the words that other people consider "too obscure." With some of the words I use in my writing, I know they're a bit archaic, and I put them there because I feel they add to the atmosphere, or because they are the only words that say exactly what I want to say (there is no modern equivalent), or simply because I think they are beautiful. But some of the words that other people find difficult ... they're just part of my ordinary vocabulary, the words I think when I'm holding an internal dialogue with myself. I feel like I've known them all my life.

(My children -- who are all in their twenties and thirties -- sometimes complain because I "use too many long words." The last time I remember this happening, the word in question was gaudy. When I pointed out that it only had two syllables, my daughter gave me an evil look.)

Yet I am sure that the people who don't understand everything I say know many words that I don't. If we trim everything down to include only the words we have in common, a part of the language will die.