Here's the thing about reading. It's how you LEARN. Context tends to give a lot away. Using words that someone MAY not know isn't terrible, so long as it's clear what it means and you're not one of those snobs that has funny words that are uncommon every third word.
Reading as a kid was how I improved my language skills. It's also why I occasionally mispronounce words. lol
This makes perfect sense to me and is how I operate. I don't write with the intention of confusing anyone or with the intention of using inaccessible words. But there is no way for me to know the reader's vocabulary level. If I write a word, I automatically think people will know what it means, especially if the topic is an advanced business, finance or legal topic. If not, looking up a word is not a bad thing. It's really easy now to find the definition of a word, especially if you're reading online. It takes two seconds while you're reading in a browser.
Exactly! Like I said, the only time this becomes an issue is when you're using uncommon, arcane words continuously. Using a word that you actually USE regularly, and communicate with without issue, isn't a bad thing.
Though I will say sometimes I AM surprised by the reactions I get sometimes when saying words I think are relatively common and other people are like "O-o;; omg whut?" It's very weird.
And you're totally right--the situation changes COMPLETELY with advanced books that are topic specific. If I wrote something up about Photoshop/InDesign, half of the people I know wouldn't have ANY IDEA what I was talking about.
I would honestly say if you're unsure on a certain word, maybe poll someone? But you're very good at communicating, so I think you can trust your own judgement.
I can understand that. But I don't think it should be a goal to write to the level of an 8th grader, and I don't think it so bad to have to look up a word once in a while. LOL
I would say that the first and last are not words most 8th graders would know (considering both on are part of the Vocab study for GREs). However, what is so bad about using a dictionary? I love finding new words, part of the fun is learning what they mean.
I think using a dictionary on one word while reading wouldn't be a hardship on anybody, especially when reading online where the look-up takes 2 seconds. You don't want to load a narrative with difficult words to demonstrate your intelligence but one or two words that are a bit above an average vocabulary level shouldn't be such an issue.
I agree. It is definitely not a hardship to look up a word here are there.
I think it is pretty shitty that your copy editor thinks people cannot understand a couple less known words... and even worse, that they will not make the attempt to do so.
Maybe there are some people like that, but those same people are not likely to read anything written by an intelligent person, so I doubt they would be interested in anything you produce anyways. If you get what I mean?
I think it is just caving in to laziness (on the part of your copy editor) and encourages people to be mediocre.
This is my point to her exactly. I know from a general perspective that the reading level is low, but the type of person who would research an advanced economics topic would know the word or would not be adverse to using the dictionary. To require me to write like an 8th grader on a topic that no 8th grader would understand or need to know is counterproductive.
I really feel that it is not a bad thing to have to look up a word from time to time. It's the only way to improve vocabulary. I don't like dumbing things down under the assumption that people can't handle it. It's a defeatist mentality. I'd rather someone tell me that my explanation is not clear enough, rather than to tell me that a word is too complicated for the average adult to understand because the "average" adult has an "8th grade education."
Most newspapers are written on a sixth-grade level now, I've heard. I look at old papers from decades ago and how they were packed with text and the editors expected that people could read them.
We like to consider ourselves so well-educated with all our gadgets and Internet but the texts used in school during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s were written at a much higher level than they are today.
A sixth-grade level! I didn't know that! I think that's...ridiculous. On the one hand they're saying everyone needs an advanced degree and to pay tens of thousands of dollars for college. Meanwhile, the quality of the education is so low that the public reading level is steadily declining, instead of rising. That's the sign of a civilization in decline. We're supposed to be getting smarter as a civilization, not dumber.
Not sure they would recognize "ancillary" (I only learned its Romanian equivalent in 10th grade, when we studied Economics), but the other two are fair game.
Also, one is certainly supposed to know how to use a dictionary by 8th grade. I remember having a special notebook where we wrote down new words and then went to the dictionary and searched for their meaning (and the Romanian translation, for English class). I did this starting 4th grade, as did all my colleagues. I hear current pupils don;t always do, but... well, our education system has so many failures now I won't begin to count them. (I assume the same is valid for other countries?)
Now that I think about it, ancillary is likely an economics-type term. The reason I used it was because I was writing an economics topic. LOL That was why I felt it was the best word to use.
I think it's sad when pure laziness defines a person's interaction with knowledge sources. Whether it's that the person doesn't like to read, or won't look up a word, etc., they do themselves a disservice.
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Here's the thing about reading. It's how you LEARN. Context tends to give a lot away. Using words that someone MAY not know isn't terrible, so long as it's clear what it means and you're not one of those snobs that has funny words that are uncommon every third word.
Reading as a kid was how I improved my language skills. It's also why I occasionally mispronounce words. lol
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Though I will say sometimes I AM surprised by the reactions I get sometimes when saying words I think are relatively common and other people are like "O-o;; omg whut?" It's very weird.
And you're totally right--the situation changes COMPLETELY with advanced books that are topic specific. If I wrote something up about Photoshop/InDesign, half of the people I know wouldn't have ANY IDEA what I was talking about.
I would honestly say if you're unsure on a certain word, maybe poll someone? But you're very good at communicating, so I think you can trust your own judgement.
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I think it is pretty shitty that your copy editor thinks people cannot understand a couple less known words... and even worse, that they will not make the attempt to do so.
Maybe there are some people like that, but those same people are not likely to read anything written by an intelligent person, so I doubt they would be interested in anything you produce anyways. If you get what I mean?
I think it is just caving in to laziness (on the part of your copy editor) and encourages people to be mediocre.
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We like to consider ourselves so well-educated with all our gadgets and Internet but the texts used in school during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s were written at a much higher level than they are today.
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Also, one is certainly supposed to know how to use a dictionary by 8th grade. I remember having a special notebook where we wrote down new words and then went to the dictionary and searched for their meaning (and the Romanian translation, for English class). I did this starting 4th grade, as did all my colleagues. I hear current pupils don;t always do, but... well, our education system has so many failures now I won't begin to count them. (I assume the same is valid for other countries?)
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I think it's sad when pure laziness defines a person's interaction with knowledge sources. Whether it's that the person doesn't like to read, or won't look up a word, etc., they do themselves a disservice.
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