Some people hide behind big words and some people are afraid of them. I can understand both.
If you have ever read something like a scientific journal, a government publication about taxes, a university paper, or a political speech, you will have seen something cluttered with extra words and littered with big words. People use big words to sound important, educated and sometimes to confuse their readers so no one will know what they really did say. Often people just give in and agree cause they want to be nice (or don’t want to seem stupid/ ignorant) but don’t really want to figure out the big words.
Being suckered by big words in this way does make people have a fear of them, if not a respect for them as a danger, something to beware of. So in this way big words do become intimidating. It’s a shame, cause they are just words. But words can be used in all sorts of ways, not all of them friendly. The pen is mightier than the sword. I think this really came into practice during the times when most people were illiterate. Language really was used against them.
Where do you stand on using big words? I don’t think it’s is a bad thing to use them. But, it’s all in how they are used. Do you use them to dominate, intimidate or trick your reader? Or do you just enjoy the language and desire to see it used?