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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
jargon helps in the communication as long as the people involved check very carefully what they are doing, saying or writing. Well, I guess everybody tries.
Yes, I never suggested that the communication is good or that it actually takes place, but that most people are trying to communicate something. Even purveyors of the most obfuscatory prose are trying to say something. I may not like or be buying it or even be swayed and persuaded by it, but I willing to give them my attention, at least until I determine what it is they are trying to say. More often than not, I simply find that people discount what somebody may be discussing because of some jargon creeping into the dialog. I do think it is important not to take jargon for granted when discussing something with somebody who is not in-group, but whether to explain terms as one uses them or to try to paraphrase the terms is a strategy for another thread.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
One situation that often arises with using jargon is as follows:
Experts use jargon when discussing a topic.
Non-experts or lesser-experts begin using the jargon without fully understanding it (occasionally perhaps without understanding it at all).
This alternative usage becomes widespread.
At first it's just wrong, but how many people have to adopt it before we consider it a legitimate alternative? (I have no idea.)
In conversation, non-experts use a term to communicate something with the expert, each thinking the communication has been clear (and maybe it has and maybe it has not).
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
>Even purveyors of the most obfuscatory prose are trying to say something.
Forgive me, I know we don't call this 'jargon' but I had to look up those two words to understand that here is talk of providers of confusing prose. Footnote? it made me grin
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
It made me grin.
Excellent. Even footnoted humor is sometimes funny ...
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
No, you're absolutely right.
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