Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern...
by sjducb on Friday December 23, 2022 @10:40AM
(#34106959)
I wish that were true. The problem is that lots of things are hard to understand and there's a good chance you're listener won't get it.
Re:Plain English: A simple guide on words to avoid in govern...
by roflc0ptic on Friday December 23, 2022 @11:04AM
(#34107253)
They're making a general statement about perception. This is markedly true and an important human dynamic. There's even a meme that plays on this: "How do you do, fellow kids?"
The linguistic patterns (including jargon but also more than that) peg us as part of various subcultures, as educated or not, rich or not, from Florida or not. I was interviewing with some random dude who went to Duke and he said "You remind me of my college roommate." I'd known this dude for 15 minutes: what else could there be, really, other than linguistic cues? Naturally, I was offered the job.
Jargon _can_ mean that the explanation is shallow; it just depends on which jargon employed when. Take any jargon filled non-sense - you can say equally shallow things entirely without the jargon!
I don't agree - unless you're using jargon to conceal your intrinsic lack of credibility.
If you really understand a thing, then you can explain it in plain words. The use of jargon serves to conceal from both the listener and the speaker that the explanation is shallow. It's like a "code smell".