dinner every night, we have a word-of-the-day session where everyone is expected to give the definition of a new word. If they didn't come across any by chance, they are allowed to look in books or online for new words, but they must be prepared by supper time. The kids find it to be a fun way to learn. Excellent article. Personally, I like to use Google to define any term I can't remember the full definition for. Google's web history allows me to review those words once in a while. Catering one's words to one's audience is essential. English contains no perfect synonyms, so the purpose of using $5 words is to concisely convey more information. If your audience isn't going to understand the word, then don't waste their time by using it. If you can replace an uncommon word with a common one, then do so. My rule-of-thumb is if someone were to ask what the word means, and I can give a one-word answer, then I just say that instead of the original word. This is great! My dad always emphasizes an increase in vocabulary; his two biggest points are much alike two of your's: Helps you understand other people. Helps you make a good impression on others. He would use those two phrases to encapsulate other points, like increasing confidence, persuasion, comprehension of the world at large . . . His greatest example is that as an engineer his hand-writing is terrible (not universal, but true