Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Clarity?

I was reading something and the author complained about "obscuration". I had a sense of what that might mean, but to be sure I looked it up. I looked on the internet since that was where I was, but I could not find a definition. I Googled the word and found some pages that claimed to contain the word, but I couldn't find it in the pages or what it might mean. I finally got out the big dictionary and found it and that it means "the act of obscuring or the quality or state of being obscure." So, in this case, the word seems to mean the thing that it does. Which made me wonder, why use such a word? It reminds me of when a person will use the word "utilize." It means use, so why not use the word use? I have a feeling that we use big words to make ourselves appear smarter or more powerful or to compensate for the fact that we don't feel that way. Or maybe we want to appear mysterious so we settle for being misunderstood.

4 comments:

Melissa said...

I know that I always want to sound smarter than I am. So I utilize big words.... I guess my secret is out!
What were you reading?

Katherine Kean said...

Melissa,

You made me laugh!

It was something about chakras. You know I think the actual word they used was obscurification..which is even more, well, fuzzy....

Matt said...

I try to only use words I understand and can come close to spelling.

Katherine Kean said...

I appreciate that! it is easier to express oneself using words you understand. Although, there have been times I thought I understood a word and found out that I didn't.

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