Am I Wordy or Loquacious?

I’ll admit it.  I’m wordy.  Loquacious, one might say.  But why would one say loquacious when one could say wordy?  Do I sound smarter and more worldly when using a big word when a small word will do?  I think, as marketers, we should all ask ourselves this question when we’re writing copy.   

In a recent column in Target Marketing, noted copywriting and marketing expert Denny Hatch pointed out quotes from two of America’s finest authors that speak to this issue.

“(Hemingway) has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” – William Faulkner 

“Poor Faulkner.  Does he really think big emotions come from big words?  He thinks I don’t know all the ten-dollar words.  I know them all right.  But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.” – Ernest Hemingway 

Let’s all cogitate these quotes before we mutually exchange information on paper with our clientele.  Better yet, let’s think about this before we write to our customers.

*I feel like I have to add that I wrote one of my high school term papers on Ernest Hemingway.  And I NEVER thought that ANYTHING I learned in high school would have an impact on my "real life."  Maybe my English teacher, Mrs. Stewart, knew what she was talking about after all...