The Right Word

If a writer discards the exact but unfamiliar word in favor of the almost exact but generally familiar word, he gives his readers less than his best effort. At the same time, there is even more to be said in favor of writing in a vocabulary that one's readers will understand. He deliberately dumbs down. He deliberately dumbs down. At the same time, there is even more to be said in favor of writing in a vocabulary that one's readers will understand.

from THE WRITER'S ART by James Kilpatrick (Asheville Citizen-Times 11/24/02)