Playgroup | Creativity through play

The “Seas of Jargon” almost sounds like something out of an epic adventure – and maybe overcoming it is epic in many ways. Jargon is in place in a wide number of professions and situations – from management-speak to journalese, it is incredible how these extra bits of English can do incredible things to group dynamics. They’re almost “expansion packs” for English, but unlike for the expansion packs for games, you can’t just go out and buy them.

Jargon is used in groups to create a sense of identity and group membership; in a sense, jargon creates professional dialects. If you speak the speak, integration into a certain professional “local area” will be a lot easier for you – and if you don’t speak it, you’re pretty screwed. Just like if you walk into a professional environment in SE England with a thick Glaswegian accent, you are more likely to find it harder to integrate and make yourself understood than estuary-speaking locals.

Experts like to create jargon – it sets them apart – “I’m going to talk about aphorisms, therefore I am more knowledgeable than you lot over there that talk about sayings.” We’ve been up in Birmingham for a few days working on translating academic research into truly applicable and usable tools – and this jargon and complex language used in academia was shown to be a real issue and in a way, it might be this that separates academia from the real world – excluding Joe Public from research going on around the world.

Fair enough, sometimes some “posh” words are required when simple words just don’t cut it, but the majority of the time, jargon and Latinate language are used as it is expected in academia – just as management-speak is expected in a business context. If you can’t talk about TQM, USPs and kaizen, you’re seen as inferior. I think we should be more careful about what we say – research based on vocational applications should maybe try to move away terminology and language that excludes the very people who should be using it. Then we wouldn’t need projects like the exciting one we’ve been working on – it would make knowledge and research more accessible to all.

Unless you WANT to be exclusive, maybe try thinking about what language you use next time you’re in a cross-disciplinary context – after all, diversity is the key to creativity.

P.s. Thank you to Swami Stream for his beautiful sea photo 

Posted by Cat on 30 Oct 09, at 7:11 am

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