Bad reasons to use jargon
- To sound smarter.
- To cover that they don't know a better word.
- To make other people feel stupid.
- To fit into a group.
- To evade difficult topics.
Why they're all terrible reasons
Because none of them is the reason jargon exists - to make things clearer! Each of the reasons above is hiding truth for different reasons. In one case, it is a weapon, in another a shield, and in another a white flag. Thankfully, I can keep using those metaphors because their use is too wide spread for them to become jargon.
Words to Avoid
You can find a good list here. Or here. Or here. Or any number of other places on the internet. Personally, I despise the phrase touch base. I think it has something to do with my dislike of baseball, though I'm not even sure that's where it comes from. It gets more difficult when you try to avoid words that you learned had specific meanings, like I did in grad school, but don't have perfect synonyms. ><
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