Yeah but then they just argue with you about whether it's simple. There's a certain kind of person who loves taking complex things and calling them "simple".
True enough. I think when we say “simple” we often really mean “cheap” (to maintain), so maybe it’s better to cut to the chase and just say that instead.
it's more often that they don't understand what simple means for most people
For example they might think that in a mixed-paradigmatic language the "pure
functional approach" is more simple even if it introduces more indirection and
requires a deep understanding of various more advanced language constructs(*).
Or that the simplest explanation of monad is the one based on PL-theory instead of an explanation based on terms people without an scientific-PL background are more familiar with.
Or people which think that writing down things in predicate logic is just way simpler then writing them down in English (well, I guess thats somewhat me).
None of the "I find this is simpler" points I mentioned are bad, but not realizing/accepting that what is simpler for you isn't simpler for others is the problem.
Rich Hickey has an excellent talk "Simple Made Easy". He points out that "simple" and "complex" describe objective properties. The terms are often (incorrectly) used interchangeably with "easy" and "hard", which are subjective.