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Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by sjducb on Friday December 23, 2022 @08:33AM (#34105580)
What is the real reason that jargon exists?

Ostensibly it's to increase precision and allow experts to communicate quickly with each other. However that explaination can't explain phrases like "Ring-fence", "Let's take this offline", "360 degree feedback". All of those phrases have better simple English translations.

Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by ohbtvz on Friday December 23, 2022 @08:41AM (#34105655)
Your examples are not jargon, they're metaphors.
Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by incone123 on Friday December 23, 2022 @08:58AM (#34105835)
Some government websites are intended for a specialist audience. I think it's great that the site for paying my car tax is very simple but I would not expect the instructions for using a government data API to be written in the same way.
Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by ohbtvz on Friday December 23, 2022 @09:48AM (#34106384)
I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. It's clear that the discussion is about general public-facing government websites. Something for which the intended audience is a large portion of the population.
Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by sjducb on Friday December 23, 2022 @09:09AM (#34105937)
Your not recognising jargon from other fields. All of those phrases have precise technical definitions.

For example "360 degree feedback" is when a manager's direct report is asked to give feedback about their manager. In other words you give feedback about your boss, often to your boss.

It doesn't really make sense as a phrase or metaphor. It should really be 180 degree feedback because if you turn 360 degrees you're facing the same way that you started.... But that makes it even better jargon. It signals that you've been on some management training courses.

Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by yulker on Friday December 23, 2022 @09:52AM (#34106432)
360 usually involves feedback from peers as well, hence 360.
Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern... by sjducb on Friday December 23, 2022 @10:29AM (#34106818)
Makes sense, also I'm now sure that you'd be a good manager because you've demonstrated a deep understanding of the jargon.