I think Amos puts his finger on the confusion about conflation. "Running two ideas together inappropriately" is an extension of earlier meanings of conflation, which are more about runnings ideas together appropriately, but it seems a justifiable enough extension - and it marks out a specific source of confusion, which can be a useful enough distinction to make.

Using less ordinary words as a way of showing off is generally better avoided - but I don't think we should fall into the opposite trap of limiting our vocabulary in ways that get in the way of precision.