Okay, long time RPer, first time poster here...

I was browsing some boards and found a link to a vocabulary/anatomy list that is supposed to help RPers expand and change up their vocabulary and was saying that you SHOULD be using these INSTEAD of the basics. Interested, I peeked over to see what it was and was just... baffled.

Here are some examples I found that are the most absurd:
HEAD: Gray matter, cranial casing, vertex, culmination,
NECK/THROAT: Esophagus, curvature, Pharynx
BODY: Cadaver, corpse, lithe, willowy, facade, embodiment
FACE: Grimace, scowl, presentation
EARS: twin pinnacles, diagnostics, antennae
TEETH: bicuspids, enamels, incisors

The list went on to different emotions, even different verbs.

"But Jasper" you're wondering "Why is this bad? These are all words" Well, frankly, it's poor writing. Most of these words are referring to a very specific part of anatomy and wanting people to use it as a replacer for a general term, others are simply adjectives that don't belong in replace of the word, and others just flat out do not mean the same thing as what they're implying (e.g., a cadaver specifically means a dead body and should not be used in place of the word 'body').

Now, of course, you should be changing things up but to go off this list you're going to be doing it the wrong way and making your writing look a mess and throwing things out there that just flat out don't mean what you think they do. Also, its totally okay to use generic words! You don't always have to be replacing words to make you seem like a better writer. And, the amount of times you change your words, it again only comes off as poor writing. Lets compare:

Using words from the list : "Leaves crunched softly beneath her foundations as she toddled across the forest floor, exciting her twin pinnacles with their interuption to the midnight silence that had settled around her. Lowering her constitution, she came up over a small hill that led down into a slope of ground thick with trees and ferns for prey to masticate. Behind her, her appendage lashed. She narrowed her chasms in glee as she promenaded forward along a path again, eager for the reward of a full gastro."

Normal (considered "lit" level but with none of the words from the list): "Leaves crunched softly beneath her feet as she stalked across the forest floor, exciting her ears with their interuption to the midnight silence that had settled around her. Lowering her body, she came up over a small hill that led down into a slope of ground thick with trees and ferns for prey to feed on. Behind her, her tail lashed. She narrowed her eyes in glee as she stalked forward along a path again, eager for the reward of a full stomach."

See how it reads weird and just doesn't make sense? Using big, complex words doesn't make you a better writer, especially if they don't mean what they're even supposed to! Hopefully this helps any RPers struggling with this and their writing, but this is just a huge peeve of mine and it needed to be out there.