Greetings!
My son’s voicemail said: “Hi, Mom. I’m in Minnie, on
my way to Indy. I passed my FO. Call me after 7 when
I’ll be out of the box.”
Hello??? One short message, four examples of airline
jargon. This message certainly was concise,
but it
wasn’t clear to me and therefore not
complete. Bruce
was treating me as part of his inner circle of
pilots, dispatchers, and air traffic controllers.
That’s the point of jargon: It is “shorthand” for
experts.
Jargon can be figurative, creating a picture
that is
not literally true. For example, the “box” Bruce
referred to is the flight simulator (which is in a
room shaped like a box, but the inside looks and
moves exactly like the cockpit of a particular plane).
Jargon is often creative. Prosecutors speak
efficiently but disparagingly of “perps lawyering
up” (defendants obtaining counsel). One of my
clients puts their medical device through many
heating and vibration cycles, referred to internally
as “shake and bake.” They shouldn’t use this jargon
in an FDA document, however.
Jargon can abbreviate language. I knew “Indy”
because of the popular “Indy 500.” I had to
translate the other concise forms into language I
could understand: “Minnie” is short for
“Minneapolis,” and “FO” is an acronym for “First
Officer.”
Sometimes, jargon is meant to disguise meaning to
protect the message from being understood by
outsiders. If that’s your purpose, then use jargon.
However, if you are actually intending to connect
with your
reader, then decode the jargon for them. This isn’t
“dumbing down,” but rather, translating your special
language for the outsider. After all, I am Bruce's
Mom and will always try to figure out what he's
trying to say to me. Will your reader be as motivated?
Start today to list the jargon you unconsciously use
with your peers. Become conscious of when you speak
or write jargon to a wider audience and prepare and use
translations of your terms so you can be complete,
consistent, clear, concise, and correct in your
communication.
Links:
Jargon in
foundations and non-profits
Jargon
watch from Wired Magazine
Buzzword Bingo games that you can print out to
take to meetings
