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A comment on Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not everyone will know?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by yjftsjthsd-h on Sunday August 14, 2022 @01:36PM (#32461168)
The goal is to communicate, so I'm going to use the words that mean what I want to say rather than trying to dumb it down. It's the same reason why most if not all professions have jargon; the goal is not to gatekeep, but to efficiently communicate well understood concepts within the profession.

All of which isn't to say that people shouldn't occasionally step back and question whether they could convey the same thing without the jargon and fancy words, but frequently the answer is no, or at least not anything like as succinctly and clearly.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by daenz on Sunday August 14, 2022 @02:38PM (#32461700)
50% of Americans can't read a book written at an 8th grade reading level[0]. It's one of the reasons politicians don't use jargon and fancy words. I think they'd probably laugh if you told them they should be talking above their constituents' understanding.

0. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/11/...

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by na85 on Sunday August 14, 2022 @03:00PM (#32461895)
Seems to me the solution to that problem is to fix the problems with American schools that produce such illiterate citizens, rather than continue dumbing everything down.
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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by the_only_law on Sunday August 14, 2022 @03:37PM (#32462224)
When I was in school, the kids that had the best grades and were in all the good programs always ended up reading. aloud. like. this.
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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by na85 on Sunday August 14, 2022 @05:22PM (#32463051)
I don't know what that means.
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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by frumper on Sunday August 14, 2022 @03:39PM (#32462231)
No one said an author shouldn’t choose what words to write. They are astonished people want browsers to choose. If politicians want a to use simple words, good for them.
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Re:Ask HN: Why don't web browsers discourage words that not ... by happytoexplain on Sunday August 14, 2022 @03:31PM (#32462170)
This is a reason to use more (appropriate/useful) words, not fewer. Politics is one of the few contexts where you are explicitly addressing the largest and most horizontally sampled set of people possible. Politicians speak that way out of necessity.
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