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.