Craft Chat "Simple" vs "Simplistic"

[BrianY]

Has "simplistic" now become a synonym for "simple?" They used to mean very different things and lately, I'm hearing them used interchangeably. When I hear somebody describe Libre Office as the most simplistic of all word processors, I have to stop and wonder if I'm understanding correctly.

Or is this just me?

 

[LJ Beck]

Ummm, interesting. I suspect they don't mean what they think they mean.

I found this quote, which seems appropriate, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."(Albert Einstein)

 

[BrianY]

Einstein didn't say "as simplistic as possible" because during the time he was alive, living in New Jersey, and speaking English, those words had very separate meanings.

 

[BrianY]

I've been reading definitions and think that while the confusion of simple and simplistic is wrong in itself, it's happening often enough to make me suspect that some sort of change is occurring. As with so many other words with morphing meanings, I'll keep my eyes open.

 

[Sedayne]

I've been reading definitions and think that while the confusion of simple and simplistic is wrong in itself, it's happening often enough to make me suspect that some sort of change is occurring. As with so many other words with morphing meanings, I'll keep my eyes open.

This misunderstanding of 'simplistic' drives me mad, but the mutability of language is fascinating.

 

[Hannah Faoileán]

Considering the interchanging of these words to be a simple mistake is probably too simplistic.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Because a high number of Africans are programming AI now, African usage of English is one way to spot AI text. I suspect there will be other shibboleths that will arise in future.