As my Dad used to say, “Eschew obfuscation.”
In plain English, he jokingly meant to avoid using sesquipedalian words if short, powerful, one- or two-syllable Anglo-Saxon English words were available.
Okay, I couldn’t let a joke opportunity go unused. “Sesquipedalian,” translated from Latin, means “a foot and a half long.” These often-pretentious, important-sounding verbal lead weights are great when exacting specificity or technical meaning requires them. But for ordinary, straightforward, user-friendly writing, they are anathema.
Sorry, I admit, another joke. But “anathema” is only borderline sesquipedalian as it succinctly expresses an idea that would otherwise take several words. Conversely, the 18th Century’s “floccinaucinihilipilification” (the action or habit of estimating something as worthless) will always be sesquipedalian. That such a long word meaning “useless” is practically useless illustrates English’s always-entertaining capacity for unintentional irony. And yes, I used “irony” correctly. For more on proper usage, see my blog post on misused words.
The basic rule of word choice: Always use a simple English word with as few syllables as possible when one is available.