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Are you a sesquipedalian? I hope not. But if you are, stop it right now.
WHAT IS A SESQUIPEDALIAN?
A sesquipedalian is someone who is “given to or characterized by the use of long words.” We’ve all come across them. They are usually people who value intellect above all else and feel the need to show proof that they are really, really smart. Unfortunately for me, these people are most prominent in academia and consulting, two fields that I work with regularly.
The thinking is that the longer and more complex words you use, the more you give the appearance of intelligence. Turns out, that’s not really the case. Surprisingly, it works exactly the opposite according to a study done by Daniel Oppenheimer, a psychologist at Princeton.
USING LONG WORDS DOESN’T MAKE YOU SEEM SMARTER
According to Dr. Oppenheimer, the longer and more complex the wording was in written communications, the lower a panel rated the author on perceived intelligence. Here’s how he did it: Dr. Oppenheimer collected simple sample of written communications. He then used a thesaurus and replaced each possible word with the longest and “floweriest” available alternative that had the same meaning. Both the simple and the complex samples were submitted to a 71 student panel (remember, this is Princeton) who were asked to evaluate them.
Anything that makes a text hard to read and understand, such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts, will lower readers’ evaluations of the text and its author.
The findings? Writers who use unnecessarily long words are viewed as less intelligent than those who stick with simple and basic communication. In fact, Dr. Oppenheimer says: “Anything that makes a text hard to read and understand, such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts, will lower readers’ evaluations of the text and its author.”
Your writing should reflect your personality and shouldn’t be dressed up with smart words
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So the moral of the story is be yourself and write naturally. Your writing should reflect your personality and shouldn’t be dressed up with “smart” words to try to give a false impression of who you are. If you intentionally use flowery or overly complex word and phrases in your writing, people will likely see through it and have a lower opinion of you and your intelligence.
SIMPLE IS BETTER
Dr. Oppenheimer summed it up in this quote. “One thing seems certain: write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent.”
Write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent
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The full research report can be found on the Applied Cognitive Psychology website. And to show that Dr. Oppenheimer has a sense of humor, the paper is titled: Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly. Well played, Doc Opp. Well played.
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