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In "Sneak Preview: What the New SAT and Digital ACT Might Look Like," New York Times reporter Tamar Lewin interviewed David Coleman, who assumed leadership of the College Board last October, after having served as architect of the Common Core. 

Since he arrived at the College Board in October, Mr. Coleman has been working on a fundamental redesign of the SAT, which he announced in February. The test, he said, should focus on “things that matter more so that the endless hours students put into practicing for the SAT will be work that’s worth doing.”…Citing the College Board’s Advanced Placement tests as a model, he said he aims to have a test that requires students to demonstrate the skills that good classroom teachers drill them on to reach academic excellence.

What does that mean for vocabulary?

Say farewell to vocabulary flashcards with arcane words like “compendious,” “membranous,” “mendacious,” “pugnacious,” “depreciatory,” “redolent,” “treacly” and “jettison.” …[Coleman] wants to get rid of obscure words that are…just SAT words, and replace them with more common words like “synthesis,” “distill” and “transform,” used in context as they will be in college and in life.

Here at Vocabulary.com, we certainly share Coleman's emphasis on analyzing words in context, as evidenced by our commitment to sentence-based questions in our word-learning game, Vocabulary Lists sentence examples, and our Dictionary's usage tracker. And we commend Coleman for his intention to use the SAT to encourage high school students to expand their vocabulary in meaningful ways that impact the ease with which they read, write, think, and speak.

But how arcane are the words he lists, exactly? A quick look at the usage tracker in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary page for mendacious shows several examples of the word's appearance in print in the last six months, including this from The Washington Post:

Prosecutors have portrayed George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch enthusiast who shot the 17-year-old Martin, as being many things: profane, mendacious, overzealous, violent. (Washington Post Jul 2, 2013)

Pugnacious also boasts many contemporary sightings in mainstream sources, including this from Time:

Like his idol, Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was one of the most garrulous and pugnacious leaders Latin America has ever known. (Time Mar 5, 2013)

Redolent continues to circulate, including this citation from The Seattle Times in May:

There are craft beers on tap and a Manhattan cocktail redolent of clove and orange peel. (Seattle Times May 22, 2013)

And Business Week, among others, used jettison in June: 

Jettisoning Zimmer, though, may not solve Men’s Wearhouse’s problems overnight. (BusinessWeek Jun 21, 2013)

Let us know what you think of the potential SAT change by leaving a comment below. Do you agree with Coleman's philosophy? What makes a word important to learn? Are there any words you would like to jettison from the SAT?