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What reading style do you consider more tedious to read, A) short, concise, and precise, but using non-layperson vocabulary, B) using layperson vocabulary, but it's longer, drawn out, and not precise? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 months ago by CraigOhMyEggo@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I've seen a lot of people on here be teased for difficulty expressing themselves. Either people complain "you're using big person words to describe mundane things" when they're aiming for precision or "woah, we don't need that damn wall of text" when they're aiming for clarity. It's like people just want to complain.

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[–] dave881@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

I think that the answer to this depends on the audience and the topic or nature of the discussion.

I prefer precise, technical language if the audience has experience in the topic. You can save a lot of time by not explaining things that the readers should, reasonably know.

I think simpler language is appropriate for a more general audience or higher level discussion.

It can be challenging to find the right balance on a forum, like this, where you don't necessarily know who the audience is.