I remember once being criticised for using the word pelagic. "Why can't you be less pretentious and say deep sea instead," said my detractor, "words which ordinary people use." Well, I've never considered that I need to dumb down what I say; I mean it would be patronising. And if someone asks me what I mean it is usually because I have not phrased things as well as I might. I have always objected to radio producers and station managers telling me not to use difficult words as the listeners won't be able to follow. It is certainly not my experience of listeners. Nevertheless the argument stuck in my mind.
So I was amused years later to see the word turning up in the supermarket on the label of some Scottish Smoked Mackerel Fillets. Do fish eaters have a broader vocabulary? Or do the products of the Scots educational system have a better fin-ish? I'll stop there, I don't want to get into deep water.
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