February 3, 2003

Jargon

Some senses of "jargon":

• unintelligible chatter (gibberish)
• secret language (e.g. Pig Latin)
• mixed language (pidgin)
• language of a profession or group (register, "shoptalk")
• language adopted by those who wish to appear to be part of a particular group ("showtalk")

We'll be using the term in the last two senses.

The term jargon itself is dysphemistic.

• I speak plainly
• You sometimes have unnecessary recourse to technical terms
• They are neckfast in cant and conundrums (Nash)

It's similar to:

• Weeds (plants that you don't want in your garden)
• Junk mail (unsolicited mail, usually in mass mailings)
• Spam (unsolicited e-mail, or any message that you don't want to receive)

This means that for a particular word, there's no absolute answer to the question "is this 'jargon' or not". It's a matter of perspective. So, for a text or expression to be "jargon", it should annoy somebody.

The "register" sense of "jargon" generally refers only to those styles which complexify rather than simplify: legalese, bureaucratese, academic discourse, but not teenage "slang", for instance.

There's an implication that the same thing could have been said in "plain English". (This leads to the cross-register synonymy problem.)

When someone's language is described as "jargon", there's a suggestion that the person had dubious motives for choosing to speak that way:

1. Amelioration (euphemism): making something sound better than it is
   
2. Deception (obfuscation): concealing the real meaning of what is being said
   
3. Pretention: pretending to be a member of a group which one isn't really a member of

Jargon is usually thought of as relating to lexicon (words). But (like style more generally) it can also include grammar, channel (the way the language is delivered, i.e. aspects of speech and writing), and even intonation, punctuation etc.

Jargon, register, and style

Style: all kinds of variation in language used to convey meaning

• Register: "high" vs. "low": formal vs. informal, polite vs. intimate, technical vs. everyday, (conventional) euphemism vs. dysphemism
• Jargon: subdivisions among "high" varieties: Science, academics, law, bureaucracy, business, etc. etc.
• Slang: subdivisions among "low" varieties: teenagers, surfers, Mexican-Americans, etc. etc.

Some examples of jargon

Shoptalk: From the Bylaws of the Academic Senate:

50. Authority

Source of Authority. The government of each college and school is vested in its Faculty, except as limited by the authority of the Divisional Graduate Council and the Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs. Each Faculty is directly responsible to the Division of which it is a committee. The Faculty of the School of Public Health (Berkeley-San Francisco) is directly responsible to the Assembly. The Division or the Assembly may impose specific duties on a Faculty.

Organization. Except as otherwise provided, each Faculty may organize, select its officers and committees, and adopt rules consistent with the Code of the Academic Senate (see Bylaw 80). Each Faculty may delegate portions of its authority to its committees or executive officers. [See Bylaw 35.C.2]

Officers and Executive Committee. Each Faculty shall select the Chair of the Faculty and members of its Executive Committee. The chief administrative officer of the college or school shall be an ex officio member of the Executive Committee but may not serve as Chair of the Faculty or the Executive Committee, except in Faculties of colleges and schools that are substantially coincident with departments of the same name. (EC Jun 77)

Reporting Authority. Each Faculty may present to the agency to which it is directly responsible recommendations and proposed modifications of legislation of that agency or the Senate.

Salestalk: Another example from "American Newspeak". The author of this website displays his attitude along with examples of jargon.

Microsoft Strikes Again

Microsoft has now entered the fold of those trying to improve the clarity of our language. Recently they discovered that the term "browser" was unclear in people's minds. At the recent trial over whether Windows and the Internet Explorer are separate products, executive Paul Maritz admitted that "In preparation for this trial," Microsoft had replaced the word "browser" in all its literature and replaced it with the phrase "Internet technologies." Now that is much clearer. And why drop the term "browser"? "We were concerned," said Maritz, "that 'browser' might be misconstrued and taken out of context." I know those big words always mixed me up. But not only is the word "browser" confusing, so is the word "market." When the government prosecutor asked whether he tracked browser market share, Maritz gave a now classic answer: "We did. But that doesn't imply there was what we considered a market there." Seventeen philosophers reportedly had heart attacks upon hearing this. (WSJ 1/27/99)

Showtalk (humorous): From Dr. Science (note style clash)

Q: When I make ice cubes out of distilled water, a stalagmite appears at the center of each cube, pointing upward like a handle. This doesn't happen with tap water. Why?

Submitted by Tom Goldsborough from Iowa City, IA

A: You probably have amoebic contamination of your distilled water supply. Those little handles may be the sex organs of a protozoa, paramecium, or even Giardia. For heavens sake, don't use them in mixed drinks. Tap water in most cities is so full of caustic chemicals that even though these parasites are still present, they're dead. I filter my tap water through a reverse osmosis screen, then run it by a proton beam and, finally, distill it in a perfect vacuum. Still, it often tastes like swimming pool water, and leaves a scale on the coffee maker. Lower your standards, and close your eyes when you drink. That's the easiest solution.