Academic jargon in use in CFCOT

[Truthy]

We at CivFanatics off topic largely discuss issues of civilization, but in the world. As such we have a lot of academic terms at our disposal to discuss what we mean. Some of them I think have entered the common discourse and we should be okay using them without having to expect to reexplain them (though a good idea to highlight we mean something technical as we use them.

I’ll start with two examples
Supply and Demand
(Weberian) Ideal Type

Prob/stats stuff is pretty common - normal distribution, standard deviation, significance, regression, correlation
Philosophy words - epistemic, ontology
Math - linear, quadratic, variable, function
Computer science - ... I dunno... I feel like mostly all you can get away with in common language is naming hardware or high level pieces of software. CPU, RAM, OS, ... keyboard. I find that even just saying "memory" causes confusion because a lot of people won't know if that means memory or storage. Or you say "disk" and people think that means literally just HDDs (ie SSDs aren't included).

Like most folks, I frown upon jargony or pretentious writing. But I'll admit some of my posts are jargony. I do this for a few reasons:
- It's a fairly common word and I assume most people understand or can glean what I'm saying
- By accident. Some word choice seems natural to me so I just go with it without thinking twice
- I'm annoyed at someone and being a jerk or trying to flex. I usually regret this afterwards
- I'm being lazy or I'm tired and don't feel like explaining what I mean or thinking of clearer words
- I'm not writing for everyone. I'm responding to someone or otherwise writing with an audience in mind who I think will know what I mean

 

[Gorbles]

- I'm not writing for everyone. I'm responding to someone or otherwise writing with an audience in mind who I think will know what I mean

This is definitely something I struggle with (and not just on CFC, historically), because once I've made the assumption, if they think I'm trying to baffle them or flaunt my knowledge, there's no easy way of convincing them otherwise. There's no nice way of saying "I thought you'd know what I was on about" even if it's meant completely sincerely. Or at least, I haven't figured it out yet, which is more probable to be honest.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

very relevant to this thread, George Orwell's "rules for writing":

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

I'm not too big of a fan of these personally, but if we consider Orwell mainly as a journalist, then these rules seem absolutely sound for writing in a concise way. It's certainly similiar to how approach writing an article for the local paper, but it's not how I would write a novel. I like the first but dislike the sixth a lot.

 

[uppi]

I wouldn't call it "dumbing down", but rather the opposite. I feel jargon's about trying to make yourself feel superior, by using words other people don't (and shouldn't be expected to) know. It's sort of like "insider talk" ... if you're in that kind of business, you'll know these terms, but someone outside doesn't. If you're talking to people not in your business about something, and you're using insider terms, I feel you're trying to make yourself look smarter than you really are, and are trying to exclude people from conversation. It's not about dumbing down, but rather simply being respectful.

I agree that it is disrespectful to bamboozle someone with too much jargon, but I think it is also disrespectful and insulting to the intelligence of your audience to use not enough jargon. Jargon terms are the gatekeepers of knowledge, because once you know the term you are looking for, an internet search will usually provide you with all the information you need. But if you have no idea how that thing you are looking for is called, you first have to spend a long time searching what you are searching for. So if you deny your audience jargon, you deny them the opportunity to look up exactly what you mean.

Of course, your audience should be able to follow you without having to look up every second word. So ideally, you would have both: the jargon term and a short explanation in your context so that mildly interested people can follow you and very interested people can easily find the 2000 word Wikipedia article with more information and more references than they wanted.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

Not under any condition should one utilize a lengthy phrase where a more concise one will suffice.

Am I doing it right?

 

[The_J]

I actually don't think I've seen any real jargon here in OT.... but then I'm also a scientist .
The ontopic areas are obviously filled though.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I don't use psychobabble in the real world. It's irritating enough in medical circles.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

In naval nuclear power we used the buzzword generator chart. It had three lists of ten words each, and you just thought of a three digit number, took the corresponding words off each list and strung them together, then did your best "of course I know what I'm talking about, are you saying that you don't?" look. Worked like a charm.

 

[Ajidica]

My entire job is dealing with technical jargon, and dealing with firms that use similar, but slightly different jargon. And the jargon varies by firm.
Like, I spend a good hour today explaining to some poor underpaid office-drone that when I ask for copies of the ISDA master swap agreement, I am not asking for a Know Your Customer review.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Learning new words is one of the many joys of life!

As long as the person introducing the new word doesn't post some comeback to a request for an explanation or translation with "Google it yourself" or "look it up yourself." That's just plain rude, and I'm not fond of people who have a habit of doing that.

Right, jargon isn't about eloquent words, it's more like insider code. Sometimes industries have very technical terms that don't mean anything to people outside those industries, and I'd say if you use those in your common speech you're being deliberately rude.

It doesn't even have to be an industry. CFCOT has an in-forum set of special terms that people get to know and understand if they're here long enough and make an effort to familiarize themselves with the terms and phrases they don't know. I've seen newcomers utterly baffled by words, phrases, and customs that the rest of us take for granted "because everyone knows that."

I don't mean the other kinds of words and phrases referenced earlier, like the words used in discussions of economics, philosophy, American politics, political ideologies in general, and so forth. I mean the words and phrases that have come to mean something to the people who spend part of our online lives here on a consistent basis.

CFC really needs a dictionary for the benefit of new people, whether they're new to the website itself, or OT/other Colosseum areas specifically.

CFC also needs to realize that not everyone here has memorized a Latin dictionary. Simply explaining the meaning when asked goes a lot farther than mockery.

 

[GenMarshall]

As long as the person introducing the new word doesn't post some comeback to a request for an explanation or translation with "Google it yourself" or "look it up yourself." That's just plain rude, and I'm not fond of people who have a habit of doing that.

Not to mention use the words to show off how intellectually superior you are. It comes off rude and condescending.

I have at least some expectation that the person would be able to “translate” their speech into a sentences that most people would understand since not all of us work around with other peers that are in that specialization of work that has that kind of technical language. Heck I’d suspect there’d be technical writers that translate technical language from engineering to regular English for people in say marketing, accounting, and top level corporate executives. It’s not because regular people are dumb, it’s because we want to have a better understanding of what you’re talking about without overcoming a language barrier.

I can easily speak with and talk with people who know and use these technical languages. That’s cause Inhave a wide verity of interest in sciences and even have an active thirst for knowlage (I still prefer applied sciences where I apply my knowlage hands on, rather than researching stuff). Not to mention that even working in a big box hardware store, I interact with customers from different trades that have their own technical language. When there’s something I don’t know, I ask and they’ll be willing to simplify or explain it better.

It doesn’t hurt to take a few minutes out of your day to translate your technical language down to a common level so that everyone can understand and won’t feel intimidated by “big words”. Most, if not all of us don’t walk and talk on the streets as if we have a thesaurus in our pockets.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

The phrase 'money shot' is a term in pornography and I felt wasn't really an appropriate descriptor in a formal setting.

Oh I see ... well sorry that originally went right over my head, lol!

Someone take away my keyboard...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

It's a principle that's mentioned in a variety of settings, but abbreviated as "KISS."

"Keep it simple, stupid."


Orwell would throw a fit over some of my NaNoWriMo material. I once did an entire Camp NaNoWriMo story that consisted of nothing but my character going to the marketplace and buying a couple of things. By the time I got past my word-count goal (15,000 words), he hadn't even finished his shopping/errand list. Even the one I just finished mostly consisted of one of the characters going about what began as a normal day and then everything went south. About two or three days' worth (real-time) consisted of one of the most ridiculously circular arguments I ever had two characters indulge in (because I hadn't actually made up my mind what they were really supposed to do, so I had them argue about it).

I'll apply the "KISS" rule when I edit. I dunno about the one character; he's meant to be a casual, use-and-throw-away character, but the other one shouldn't behave like that. I originally wrote him as more decisive.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I use whatever word suits best. Sometimes I don't know what it is and I have to look through a thesaurus until I figure it out.

 

[Socrates99]

The only professional jargon I can think of that I've slipped and used is "high gravity". Beers that start with a high gravity are often higher in alcohol than more standard 4-6% beers. We just call them high gravity because it's a representation of how much grain goes into a batch. High gravity beers cost more to make so they're often priced that way even if you could have a dry 9% beer and a sweet 7% beer with the same high "original gravity" (a term that refers to water with unfermented dissolved sugars being heavier than water or final gravity post fermentation).

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I use whatever word suits best. Sometimes I don't know what it is and I have to look through a thesaurus until I figure it out.

I don't use a thesaurus while writing fiction, if there's an idea I'm feeling but I can't come up with a word I'll just invent one. been doing this since I was little I guess. they're almost always self-explainatory and kind of.. onomatopeotic.

one of the earliest was "let's go schnappsen"

 

[yung.carl.jung]

The only professional jargon I can think of that I've slipped and used is "high gravity". Beers that start with a high gravity are often higher in alcohol than more standard 4-6% beers. We just call them high gravity because it's a representation of how much grain goes into a batch. High gravity beers cost more to make so they're often priced that way even if you could have a dry 9% beer and a sweet 7% beer with the same high "original gravity" (a term that refers to water with unfermented dissolved sugars being heavier than water or final gravity post fermentation).

I had no idea you were involved in beer making, that's sweet. did you ever get the chance to try one of these? what kind of beers do you do mostly?

 

[civvver]

very relevant to this thread, George Orwell's "rules for writing":

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

I'm not too big of a fan of these personally, but if we consider Orwell mainly as a journalist, then these rules seem absolutely sound for writing in a concise way. It's certainly similiar to how approach writing an article for the local paper, but it's not how I would write a novel. I like the first but dislike the sixth a lot.

Sounds like the exact opposite of Stephen King.

We have a ton of terms at work cus of proprietary software systems and what they call stuff. For example we use this thing called Fogbugz for issue tracking so we'll say what's the "bugs ID" spelled BugzID to refer to cases in the system.

And lots of other computer terms like:
OS = Operating System
HMI = Human Machine Interface, basically has replaced GUI (graphical user interface) as the new cool it buzz word for describing graphics though they are actually quite different scopes but people use them interchangeably almost.
VCI = vehicle communication interface

Plus other annoying crap like ISO9001, MSDS, FMEA, User Stories, Scrum processes. It goes on and on.

And then concepts like software inheritance, encapsulation, abstraction, being modular, technical debt, refactoring.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Sounds like the exact opposite of Stephen King.

Funny enough, I have an article by Stephen King, "Everything You Need To Know About Writing Successfully—In Ten Minutes":

4. Remove every extraneous word.
You want to get up on a soapbox and preach? Fine. Get one and try your local park. You want to write for money? Get to the point. And if you remove all the excess garbage and discover you can't find the point, tear up what you wrote and start all over again...and try something new.

 

[civvver]

Stephen King said that? Cus the old story is he got paid by the word so he made his descriptions and stuff extra long and wordy to get paid more.