I watched the last severance episode.
A manager (an 80’s looking, strong and tall black man so you identify him) is told during a performance review he “uses too many big words”.
To me, while this character can appear pretentious, he is simply an articulate man, like somebody who was taught at Oxford or Princeton. It’s simply how he was raised, it’s not his “fault”.
I would feel attacked is somebody told me that for trying to use an appropriate vocabulary to describe or explain something, like being posh was something to be ridiculed.
If a coworker told me that I’d use a more detailed description so he understands what I mean but otherwise keep using my regular vocabulary. If a manager told me that I’d start looking for a new job, as it’d signal he feels entitled to micromanage me and a job doesn’t have to be stressful.
Am I too thin skinned?
People who are very knowledgeable in their field often have trouble “dumbing” things down. They make a lot of assumptions of base level knowledge that genpop doesn’t possess.
I admit that I was that way for a while with IT, but I guess my mother being a teacher left me with the skill of being able to relate my knowledge to something they’re familiar with.
It got easier once I realized that if everyone possessed the knowledge that I do, I’d be out of a job. Also made dealing with tech illiterate people much easier.