Thy inquiry, which thou hast brought forth upon this amalgamation of benevolent and pulchritudinous corporeal beings from disparate locations around the globe, shall be acknowledged forthwith: Nah.
If you're a specialist you may have to dumb down what you're saying so a layman can understand. Some non-fiction science books use analogies and metaphors. Otherwise use all the big words you want. They owe it to themselves to learn the words you're speaking. I personally like it when people teach me new words.
Well, I learned a new word today. Nice use of pulchritudinous. Note to self, never play Scrabble with SemiCharmedLife.
Depends where you go. Thanks to my older brother, I tend to be long-winded and use words not typically found in conversation, sooo it can give off a snobby impression to some people. If you're among peers who generally don't speak 'snobby' you'll be viewed as such when using big words. If you're talking to teachers or a different group of kids you'll fit right in. It's just how humans are It's better not to use big words if you're tutoring someone in something other than language. Otherwise, use them all you want, unless you want to fit in with kids who look down on intelligent people. edit: Indeed.
No, but as illustrated by SemiCharmedLife the oft desired result is obfuscation. You haven't lived life until you've read the OED.
It's rude to deliberately speak over people's heads, but just using large words with the possibility that they don't understand? It is more of an insult to yourself to restrict your communication ability. If somebody doesn't understand me, I'll explain it to them. But otherwise I'll use the word that best fits the idea with little thought given to whether or not it will offend their sensitive ego. If somebody doesn't know a word, they should learn it. I knew that one because I took Latin, which proved invaluable for learning English. That word in particular is fairly sesquipedalian though. <<ha! It roughly means "overly long words"
