It’s one of my pet hates: people who write or say ‘utilise’ when they could just as easily write ‘use’. Why use ‘utilise’ when you could more simply utilise ‘use’?

And of course, when we put it in the noun form it becomes ‘utilisation’ – surely that’s a word of the size that will impress.

Often people use bigger or more complicated words than they need to, to try to impress others, to create an impression that the writer is highly intelligent or sophisticated.

Using a big word rather than a simpler word usually gets in the way of good, effective communication.

And some other words to keep an eye on are: writing ‘post’ rather than ‘after’, or ‘prior to’ rather than ‘before’.

It’s best to select the simplest and most familiar words you can to convey ideas.