George Orwell wrote an essay entitled “Politics and the English Language.” I recommend it for many reasons: not only is it a beautiful example of Orwell’s clear and precise writing, but also because it makes the point that English is composed of two entwined linguistic roots. One is French or Romance derived largely from Latin, and the other is Germanic, having nothing to do with Latin. He points out that in English we often have two words for the same thing, one French and the other Germanic. A pond or a point can be clear (Germanic) or lucid (French). That same pond thought it can be deep (Germanic) or profound (French). These synonyms are used adroitly by politicians. When they want their rhetoric to be strong and motivational, they use Germanic words. When they want to diffuse something they are describing, or blur an inconvenient truth, they will choose the French or Latin derived words, which, as Orwell put it, tend to cover over and obscure the facts like a blanket of fresh snow.
Rob and others (maybe Orwell) have made the point that if you were a peasant in England (post-Norman Conquest) tending an animal, you used the Germanic word (e.g., cow), but if you you were a higher-status person who encountered the animal on your dinner plate, you used the French word (boeuf -> beef).