I enjoy Etymology (the study of the origins of words.) I also enjoy words themselves, and the clever way in which we can use them to express ourselves. I'm certain that is apparent in most of my blog entries; I use large words when a simpler version may be floating around somewhere. I also take pleasure in complexity, both in grammatical composition and in the actual word itself. There is just something very satisfying about wrapping your tongue around a multi-syllable word.
Words for everyday usage are often short and to the point, whereas words used in science or theory are often a combination of various bits and pieces. If you understand the bits and pieces, and have a Latin dictionary handy, the lengthy words themselves are actually just descriptions of what the subject is. When I speak, it is plainly, so that others can understand. When I write, I tend to pull all sorts of synonyms out of the bright blue yonder (or else my arse). It is a filthy habit. Often people do not have the discipline to read things that appear, at first glace, to be stuffy or "above their heads". I shall endeavor to break this habit, or no one will have any desire to read my blog.
It is not that I am trying to impress anyone. I am a firm believer that people are perfectly capable of adding words to their vocabulary, or at least finding new ways of expressing themselves. Lengthy words are not a matter of proper breeding or an expensive education; they are simply a way of conveying information in a manner that, at best, shows they have more than cobwebs and bits of fluff nestled inside their skulls. I, personally, have a gerbil on a wheel up there. As long as he is fed, the thoughts continue to flow.
Most people do not have the occasion to use fancy words. They go about their lives with bliss, working careers that require little in the way of grammatical decorum. Poets, authors and the occasional scientist seem the ones doomed to possessing a vocabulary that is only out-matched by the shoe collection once belonging to Imelda Marcos.
