Either you' ve been taught to be overly complicated and formal, or you assume that 's what you should do Strive for simplicity and clarity i. One problem comes from"hypercorrection". This happens when people struggle to make their language super-formal and complex. Academics and cops do this a lot. Straining to be hypercorrect actually ends up screwing us up. You can hear this in the language of a police spokes person on TV 1. Cars and trucks are always vehicles 2. The person isnt caught, he is apprehended 3. Not the crook, the perpetrator ii. A lot of this comes down to word choice. Some words you know perfectly, and some you have only a sense of. We're supposed to expand our vocabularies, but using Roget's Thesaurus doesnt al ways give you an exact replacement for a word, though they may be in the same ballpark 1. A word like augment has a quite specific meaning-not an exact equivalent to increase or add to 2. When you pick a word like compile, instigate or rebut, hake sure you know the exact meaning of the word and are sure it fits with what you're trying to say ii. Words all have quirks about what prepositions they take, for instance semi-synonyms concerned with knowing and learning 1. You are a master of a subject 2. You have a handle on something 3. Acquaintance with 4 Realization that You also have trouble with how formal the word choice may be 1. For example, the word aforesaid"" is an accurate translation from the Spanish text the professor was working one, but in English, the only people who use the word aforesaid are lawyersa. Either you’ve been taught to be overly complicated and formal, or you assume that’s what you should do. Strive for simplicity and clarity. i. One problem comes from “hypercorrection”. This happens when people struggle to make their language super-formal and complex. Academics and cops do this a lot. Straining to be hypercorrect actually ends up screwing us up. You can hear this in the language of a police spokes person on TV 1. Cars and trucks are always vehicles 2. The person isn’t caught, he is apprehended 3. Not the crook, the perpetrator ii. A lot of this comes down to word choice. Some words you know perfectly, and some you have only a sense of. We’re supposed to expand our vocabularies, but using Roget’s Thesaurus doesn’t always give you an exact replacement for a word, though they may be in the same ballpark. 1. A word like “augment” has a quite specific meaning – not an exact equivalent to increase or add to. 2. When you pick a word like compile, instigate or rebut, make sure you know the exact meaning of the word and are sure it fits with what you’re trying to say. iii. Words all have quirks about what prepositions they take, for instance semi-synonyms concerned with knowing and learning: 1. You are a master of a subject 2. You have a handle on something 3. Acquaintance with 4. Realization that iv. You also have trouble with how formal the word choice may be. 1. For example, the word ”aforesaid” is an accurate translation from the Spanish text the Professor was working one, but in English, the only people who use the word “aforesaid” are lawyers