Jargon is in the eye of the beholder

Subject: Jargon is in the eye of the beholder
From: "Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 09:45:33 -0600

The word "jargon" has always had two meanings: words that communicate
efficiently to a specific audience, versus (pejoratively) words that
a particular group uses to confuse anyone not part of the group. My
take on this is that jargon is always in the eye of the beholder and
that there are no absolute definitions. If you don't understand your
audience well enough to know the language they're comfortable with,
then you have to tread considerably more carefully and err on the
side of caution.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

Hart's corollary to Murphy's law: "Occasionally, things really do work right."




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