Jargon

Jargon or technical language is the specialized

Jargon, also referred to as "technical language", is "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group".[8] Most jargon is technical terminology (technical terms), involving terms of art^[9] or industry terms, with particular meaning within a specific industry. The primary driving forces in the creation of technical jargon are precision, efficiency of communication, and professionalism.^[10] Terms and phrases that are considered jargon have meaningful definitions, and through frequency of use, can become catchwords.^[11]

While jargon allows greater efficiency in communication among those familiar with it, a side effect is that it raises the threshold of comprehensibility for outsiders.

The French word is believed to have been derived from the Latin word gaggire, meaning "to chatter", which was used to describe speech that the listener did not understand.^[17] The word may also come from Old French jargon meaning "chatter of birds".^[17] Middle English also has the verb jargounen meaning "to chatter", or "twittering", deriving from Old French.^[18]

The first known use of the word in English is found within The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. Chaucer related "jargon" to the vocalizations of birds.^[18]

In colonial history, jargon was seen as a device of communication to bridge the gap between two speakers who did not speak the same tongue. Jargon was synonymous with pidgin in naming specific language usages. Jargon then began to have a negative connotation with lacking coherent grammar, or gibberish as it was seen as a "broken" language of many different languages with no full community to call their own. In the 1980s, linguists began restricting this usage of jargon to keep the word to more commonly define a technical or specialized language use.^[19]

Fields using the term

In linguistics, it is used to mean "specialist language",

The philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac observed in 1782 that "every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas". As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment, he continued: "It seems that one ought to begin by composing this language, but people begin by speaking and writing, and the language remains to be composed."^[24]

Industry term

An industry word is a specialized kind of technical terminology used in a certain industry. Industry words and phrases are often used in a specific area, and those in that field know and use the terminology.^[25]

Precise technical terms and their definitions are formally recognized, documented, and taught by educators in the field. Other terms are more colloquial, coined and used by practitioners in the field, and are similar to

Technical terminology evolves due to the need for experts in a field to communicate with precision and brevity, but often has the effect of excluding those who are unfamiliar with the particular specialized language of the group. This can cause difficulties as, for example, when a patient is unable to follow the discussions of medical practitioners, and thus cannot understand his own condition and treatment. Differences in jargon also cause difficulties where professionals in related fields use different terms for the same phenomena.[27]

Corporate jargon

The use of jargon in the business world is a common occurrence. The use of jargon in business correspondence reached a high popularity between the late 1800's into the 1950's.^[28] In this context, jargon is most frequently used in modes of communication such as emails, reports, and other forms of documentation.^[29] Common phrases used in corporate jargon includes

• Common share^[30]
• Dividend^[30]
• KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
• Pursuant
• ROI (Return on Investment)^[31]
• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)^[32]
• Undersigned

Medical jargon

Medicine professionals make extensive use of scientific terminology. Most patients encounter medical jargon when referring to their diagnosis or when receiving or reading their medication.^[33] Some commonly used terms in medical jargon are:

• Code blue^[34]
• Dyspnea^[35]
• Hematoma^[36]
• Hypertension^[37]
• Palliative care^[38]
• Tachycardia^[39]

On first glance many people do not understand what these terms mean and may panic when they see these scientific names being used in reference to their health.^[40] The argument as to whether medical jargon is a positive or negative attribute to a patient's experience has evidence to support both sides. On one hand, as mentioned before, these phrases can be overwhelming for some patients who may not understand the terminology. However, with the accessibility of the internet, it has been suggested that these terms can be used and easily researched for clarity.^[41]

Legal jargon

Jargon is commonly found in the field of law. These terms are often used in legal contexts such as legal documents, court proceedings, contracts, and more. Some common terms in this profession include:

• Acquittal
• Affidavit^[42]
• Adjudication
• Libel
• Litigation
• Tort^[43]

Education jargon

There is specialized terminology within the field of education. Educators and administrators use these terms to communicate ideas specific to the education system. Common terms and acronyms considered to be jargon that are used within this profession include:

• Capstone project
• Curriculum
• ELL (English Language Learner)
• IEP (Individualized Education Program)
• Pedagogy
• PLC (Professional Learning Community)
• STEM
  (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

In practice

Jargon may serve the purpose of a "gatekeeper" in conversation, signaling who is allowed into certain forms of conversation. Jargon may serve this function by dictating to which direction or depth a conversation about or within the context of a certain field or profession will go.^[44] For example, a conversation between two professionals in which one person has little previous interaction or knowledge of the other person could go one of at least two possible ways. One of the professionals (who the other professional does not know) does not use, or does not correctly use the jargon of their respective field, and is little regarded or remembered beyond small talk or fairly insignificant in this conversation. Or, if the person does use particular jargon (showing their knowledge in the field to be legitimate, educated, or of particular significance) the other professional then opens the conversation up in an in-depth or professional manner.^[44] Outside of conversation, jargon can become confusing in writing. When used in text, readers can become confused if there are terms used that require outside knowledge on the subject.^[45]

Positivity

Ethos is used to create an appeal to authority. It is one of three pillars of persuasion created by Aristotle to create a logical argument. Ethos uses credibility to back up arguments. It can indicate to the audience that a speaker is an insider with using specialized terms in the field to make an argument based on authority and credibility.^[46]

Jargon can be used to convey meaningful information and discourse in a convenient way within communities. A subject expert may wish to avoid jargon when explaining something to a layperson. Jargon may help communicate contextual information optimally.^[47] For example, a football coach talking to their team or a doctor working with nurses.^[48]

Accessibility and criticism

With the rise of the self-advocacy within the Disability Rights Movement, "jargonized" language has started to face repeated rejection for being language that is widely inaccessible.^[49] However, jargon is largely present in everyday language such as in newspapers, financial statements, and instruction manuals. To combat this, several advocacy organizations are working on influencing public agents to offer accessible information in different formats.^[50] One accessible format that offers an alternative to jargonized language is "easy read", which consists of a combination of plain language^[13] and images.

The criticism against jargon can be found in certain fields where professionals communicate with individuals with no industry background. In a study done by analyzing 58 patients and 10

Many examples of jargon exist because of its use among specialists and subcultures alike. In the professional world, those who are in the business of filmmaking may use words like "vorkapich" to refer to a montage when talking to colleagues.[52] In rhetoric, rhetoricians use words like "arete" to refer to a person of power's character when speaking with one another.^[53]

See also

References

Further reading

• Green, Jonathon. Dictionary of Jargon. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987.
  ISBN 0-7100-9919-3
  .
• Nash, Walter. Jargon: Its Uses and Abuses. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993.
  ISBN 0-631-18063-X
  .
• Sonneveld, H., Loenning, K.: (1994): "Introducing terminology", in Terminology, p. 1–6
• Wright, S. E.; Budin, G.: (1997): Handbook of Terminology Management, Volume 1: Basic Aspects of Terminology Management. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 370 pp.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Jargon.

Look up jargon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jargon.

• The Jargon Wiki—A wiki based on The Jargon File.
• Business Jargon Archived 2019-10-10 at the Wayback Machine—Business jargon and terminology
• Jargonism—Business English dictionary for industry-specific jargon