The Refuge for Nonsense
We, as writers and speakers, like to send impressions, esp. those that make us appear more intelligent, “dope”, or “deep” than we actually are.
Nine times out of ten, our choice of words (read: gobbledygook) seems like the easier route. Inevitably, people who should have kept their mouth shut hide reasoning with little meaning behind humongous words.
Likewise, graphic designers hide meaningless design behind complexity.
A complex word that’s used in a place of a simpler synonym is only excusable when it adds value, be it rhetoric or otherwise, to the spoken or written — otherwise, it’s a show off.
Politicians are notorious for relying on bombast, to either impress or hide the insignificance of their promises.
But what’s the use of deliberately confusing the very same people that you’re trying to communicate an idea, promise, or point of view to?
Isn’t the listener’s comprehension of the spoken the speaker’s responsibility?
Generally, the things that takes a politician two-hours to say, could have be said in fifteen minutes; things that takes a mediocre writer a book to express could have been expressed with a paragraph made of a hundred words, and
brand x’s twelve paged mission statement could have been summed up by a remarkable slogan.
(No amount of complex words will add sense to a nonsensical sentence.)
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— August 17, 2010.