How astute and sedulous are you?

Everyday I receive the “word of the day”. Sometimes they are worth a read sometimes, although novel, are such archaic, dust laden words that only those authors that have too much time on their hands would use them. You know the ones, I know you do. Although, I have to say that these archaic words are helpful in reading literature of the past. Don’t get me wrong, all knowledge is good knowledge…but who is ever going to use these words. I mean if you take a look at the proficiency of the English language now! Well, call me prescriptivist, but how hard is it to make a complete sentence without using ‘like’ 600 times. So, if we can use a vague word such as ‘like’ for all purposes then why would we need words like (notice one proper use of like)- redivivus pronounced red-uh-VY-vuhs.
Or, today’s word:
exegete \EK-suh-jeet\, noun-A person who explains or interprets difficult parts of written works. Exegete is from Greek exegetes, from exegeisthai,"to interpret," and is related to [4] exegesis.
Or, even one of my favorites, infracaninophile. Ahh yes, that will be my downfall, being an infracaninophile. No, I don’t use it in everyday dialogue. I think I would be looked at as if I had 2 heads. Don’t think I won’t try it at the next party I go to though. Someone may want to give me a soothing salve or something.
What is this trend at the moment to dumb everything down? Why are we now ashamed of the knowledge for which we have continually searched? I recently had a rather heated discussion with a colleague about ‘plain language’. The colleague attested that people who speak with large words and vocabulary are pompous and elitist. There is no reason for it and everything should be put into plain language. I understand where this person was coming from in the context of literacy. Of course, many people are functionally illiterate, or illiterate. Possibly, they have a learning disorder, or brain injury of some sort. However, to exorcise all the elaborate words out of our language so that people don’t “feel bad” is unrealistic. I wonder if anyone has ever asked the said people if they want their contemporaries only to speak to them in small or frequently used words. That just says that they don’t have the capacity to learn if they so desire. If they don’t desire it, then that is fine. I don’t think it should be mutually exclusive. Once again, I have run across this attitude to get rid of one in order to engage the other. Why is there no balance? Those dictionary people would really be out of a job, wouldn’t they? Not to mention what that would do to the lawyers!! Ok well, no one would really worry about that, but they are people too. I think.
P.S. As I was writing this blog, I even learned something. ‘Laden’ as I have used it, is an adjective and does not change form. It comes from the verb lade (reminds me of “The Princess Bride” when they are trying to bring the hero back to life. The old wizard doesn’t want to help them and instead of saying it magic word was ‘love’ the hero spoke, the wizard says, “no, I distinctly hear to lathe.” Well, I thought it was funny.). Even though many people I have heard pronounce it as ladened. Well it may only have been me, but hey…that is just the assiduous student of life I am.