Jargon  

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Butler believes that specialized vocabulary is essential in writing and oratory because language should mirror reality. Orwell opposes most of her arguments with his modern style of language by saying that simplicity is the key to good writing and dialect because language should be easy for the audience to comprehend. Butler believes that specialized vocabulary is essential in writing and oratory because language should mirror reality. Orwell opposes most of her arguments with his modern style of language by saying that simplicity is the key to good writing and dialect because language should be easy for the audience to comprehend.
-==Jargons and sources tracing them along history==+ 
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==Examples== ==Examples==

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Jargon is "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity occupational or social group." The philosopher Condillac observed in 1782 that "every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he continued, "It seems that one ought to begin by composing this language, but people begin by speaking and writing, and the language remains to be composed." In earlier times, the term jargon would refer to trade languages used by people who spoke different native tongues to communicate, such as the Chinook Jargon.

In other words, the term covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest. Much like slang, it can develop as a kind of shorthand, to express ideas that are frequently discussed between members of a group, though it can also be developed deliberately using chosen terms. A standard term may be given a more precise or unique usage among practitioners of a field. In many cases this causes a barrier to communication with those not familiar with the language of the field. For example, bit, byte, and hexadecimal are jargon terms related to computing.

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Accessibility issues

With the rise of self-advocacy movement within the disability movement, jargonised language has been much objected to by advocates and self-advocates. Jargon is largely present in every day language, in newspapers, government documents and official forms. Several advocacy organisations work on influencing public agents to offer accessible information in different formats. One accessible format that offers an alternative to jargonised language is Easy Read, which consists of a combination of plain English and images. Another alternative is a jargon buster, incorporated to certain technical documents. There is a balance to be struck - excessive removal of technical terminology from a document leads to an equally undesirable outcome - dumbing down.

Etymology

The word comes from Old French jargon meaning "chatter of birds".

Modern vs. Postmodern Opinions on the Use of Jargon

The summary below discusses two differing viewpoints of the use of jargon, as described by Stephen K. Roney in "Postmodernist Prose and George Orwell." In his article, Roney discusses modern vs. postmodern styles of language using the contrasting views of George Orwell and Judith Butler.

George Orwell, a socialist, leftist, and Marxist, believes in the modern style of language, deeming that good writing is clear and simple. In his essay, “Politics and the English Language,” he states the following arguments: technical language is nothing but an oratorical trick, simple language is required to clarify difficult concepts, while complex language is needed to explain simple concepts, and lastly, political language is structured to make lies seem like the truth. In short, Orwell is articulating that specialized language is not essential.

Butler presents several postmodernist rebuttals to Orwell’s arguments. She states that difficult concepts need to be expressed with specialized vocabulary, or jargon. She quotes Marcuse, who believes that if people could use plain language to describe something, they would. She is attempting to prove that jargon is natural and necessary. Butler also says “language conditions thought,” meaning that the words we use shape the way we think. Roney responds to that by saying that if language fully conditioned thought, we would not be able to think about language. The last argument that Butler states is “if you’re talking about something obscure, your language should be obscure to reflect this accurately."

Butler believes that specialized vocabulary is essential in writing and oratory because language should mirror reality. Orwell opposes most of her arguments with his modern style of language by saying that simplicity is the key to good writing and dialect because language should be easy for the audience to comprehend.


Examples

See also




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