I was homeschooled till 12 and mostly left to my own devices as long as it was reading - I believe that has caused a lifelong issue where I sound like a tryhard unintentionally :( (TL;Dr I use it but IDK when, didn't see hofstader article but now I'm looking forward to it)

You can substitute the word "substitute" as an ersatz "ersatz".

It's honestly weird and annoying and I'd give it up in a second.

There's two issues:

- I don't have an ear for what's simple vocabulary versus tryhard, I go into a mad loop when I try

- even if I actively notice it, substitution can seem very far away from intent. Simple wouldn't have occurred to me - I wanted to say something more akin to sloppy / stunt and ersatz is much closer to "hacky" in meaning than simple. Think MacGyver.

But I should do the exercise of at least scanning for words more often and aim for wider audience - I would have known ersatz was an outlier and I shouldn't feel it's condescending or diluting meaning, it's broadening the audience who can parse it

Eh, it's fine, it doesn't sound tryhard to me, just a bit hard to read.

Why would you apologize for your vocabulary and try to sound like someone less well-read than you are? Just get over it and be yourself.

The word ersatz is great, and conveys the notion that the replacement is simpler and possibly inferior when compared across all features. “Substitute” doesn’t cut it. Human language (ironically w.r.t. TFA) isn’t a collection of redundant symbols, the synonyms carry all sorts of useful nuance.

It doesn't sound tryhard; it sounds literate.