Vernacular
I find it important to keep within your own vernacular, but I also find it important to study what it is, the roots of words, how they've evolved over time. Sometimes people call things out to us that seem out of left field. You won't really be able to interpret them if you don't know everything about the word you can. It may be an opportunity for you to check it out under a different set of context clues. We can do this from our memories of things people have said to us in the past, as well as the history of the word and how it was put together.
"But I don't want to be arrogant! I don't want to be impotent!" No, be arrogant. Be impotent. There are healthy, honorable aspects to both words.