Hyperpolysyllabicomania

The fondness for big words (the definition of the above title) can be seen in a lot of business and government communications. Some people have a propensity for portentous pleonasm pretending prodigious pomposity. This is especially true when one desires to obfuscate a point. Language was originally developed to easily communicate concepts to others. Over time this has changed and big words and phrases muddy mutterings and miscommunicate messages to minions. This tendency has proliferated during our politically correct, post-Freudian era where psychobabble, officialese, and legalese have crept into everyday language.

If you are still reading after that bombastic display of hyperpolysyllabic nonsense, then consider the following phrases that actually appeared in public documents. Translations are in parentheses.

A favorable success ratio (winning).

Formulate revised proposed objectives and guidelines (look for new ideas).

Low-density seating (first-class airfare).

Adequate resources to facilitate effective planning over the long term (money).

Public information strategies on the government’s overall response (official lies).

If an ordinary person wants to give an apple to another, she simply says, “I give you this apple.” However, a person using legalese in an attempt to eliminate any misinterpretation, would say, “Be it known to all that I hereby give, grant, release, convey, transfer, and quitclaim all my rights, title, benefit, and use whatsoever in, of, and concerning this pome fruit of the genus Malus, family Rosaceae, together with all the appurtenances thereto of skin, ripened ovary, and surrounding tissue, hereinafter referred to as pulp, seeds, juice… (and so forth and so on).”

The management guru, Peter Drucker, said, “One of the most degenerative tendencies of the last forty years is the belief that if you are understandable, you are vulgar. …just the other day, I heard a senior scholar seriously reject a younger colleague’s work because more than five people could understand what he’s doing. Literally.

“We cannot afford such arrogance. Knowledge is power, which is why people who had it in the past often tried to make a secret of it. In post-capitalism, power comes from transmitting information to make it productive, not from hiding it.”

This article, edited down to just the sentences that are important and make sense, would probably be about half its current length, but we wanted to make the point that big words are often confusing and convey small ideas; whereas, big ideas frequently come from small words.

Let’s look at the antidote for hyperpolysyllabicomania. Jack Trout, in his book, The Power of Simplicity, gives us ten principles to produce clear writing:

1. Keep sentences short.

2. Pick the simple word over the complex word.

3. Choose the familiar word.

4. Avoid unnecessary words.

5. Put action in your verbs.

6. Write like you talk.

7. Use terms your readers can picture.

8. Tie in with your reader’s experience.

9. Make full use of variety.

10. Write to express, not impress.

Jack Welch, the highly successful CEO of General Electric said in the Harvard Business Review: “Real leaders don’t need clutter. People must have the self-confidence to be clear, precise, to be sure that every person in their organization—highest to lowest—understands what the business is trying to achieve. But it’s not easy. You can’t believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they’re simple, people will think they’re simple-minded. In reality, of course, it’s just the reverse. Clear, tough-minded people are the most simple.”

Mark Twain once admonished a young friend in a letter by saying, “I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words, and brief sentences. That is the way to write English. It is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it.”

Whenever you talk or write, just use the KISS formula: “Keep It Short & Simple.” Instead of displaying a propensity for portentous pleonasm pretending prodigious pomposity, your plain talk will be clear, precise, and a pleasure to hear.