Re:Penny Arcade’s Insultingly Horrible Job
by yetanotherphd on Wednesday November 27, 2013 @01:49AM
(#6806849)
For someone trained in the field, the original version is more concise and easier to understand. They key "jargon" terms are very common in economics, in particular "procyclical", "labor adjustment costs", "labor hoarding" and "inventories".
So really it's just a matter of using a common technical language that is less ambiguous than ordinary language.
Your rewrite adds a lot that isn't in the original article. E.g. the last sentence doesn't reflect their meaning. They are looking for explanations for why firms hoard, not trying to make suggestions to firms.
Re:Penny Arcade’s Insultingly Horrible Job
by count on Tuesday November 26, 2013 @09:35PM
(#6805902)
Theirs is half the length and more precise than yours. Maybe they had a word count limit? That, and they're writing for other people in the field - jargon is USEFUL as a time and space saver.
Re:Penny Arcade’s Insultingly Horrible Job
by wpietri on Tuesday November 26, 2013 @10:11PM
(#6806060)
You're really going to come on a technical site and complain about other people's jargon and opaque writing?
Re:Penny Arcade’s Insultingly Horrible Job
by marvin on Wednesday November 27, 2013 @05:41AM
(#6807449)
It's especially interesting when compared to the "but my code is self-documenting!" that a lot of technical people advocate.
Re:Penny Arcade’s Insultingly Horrible Job
by aliakbarkhan on Tuesday November 26, 2013 @10:14PM
(#6806065)
How stupidly self-centered are you? "All academic papers should be written in a way that I can understand no matter whether they would be comprehensible to the intended audience!" What a fucking egomaniac.
For example:
The whole paper reads like that. Repurposed words dumped obliquely in the middle of sentances, and then abandonded.Why not:
What is it about academia, where people feel obligated to contort their writing into an intimidating architecture of opaque jargon and garish vocabulary? Is it some form of group think? Is it a defense mechanism designed to ward off criticism? Why must new ideas be presented in such stark, frustrating words?