If you keep the jargon, fine. But ensure you utilise more diminutive vocabulary elsewhere.

by | 23 Jul 2021

If you are going to keep the specialist words for your subject then it is all the more important to use small simple words when you can.

“Never use a long word when a short one will do.” – George Orwell

Here is a list of words and phrases that can nearly always be swapped out:

  • utilise / use
  • leverage / use
  • demonstrate / show
  • previous / earlier
  • at this point in time / now
  • on account of / because
  • impact (as verb) / affect
  • surface (as verb) / look at
  • synergy / work together
  • blue sky thinking / original
  • drill down / examine
  • ideate / think
  • reach out / contact
  • dialogue (as verb) / talk
  • progress (as verb) / say what you are actually doing
  • in order to / to

There are plenty of other words to avoid, but these are a good start.

Make your prose easy to read by avoiding overcooking the words you use and funnily enough your readers will think you are more intelligent, not less.

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