I was thinking about how words change over time and how words are added to our lexicon. The problem with using new words or jargon is that they exclude understanding by people not in that particular field, region or perhaps demographic. We need to quell the temptation to use such words in press releases and presentations.

Not to insult “hockey moms”—one of the newest words in our vocabulary, for which I should be shunned for using, but ask yourself if your average hockey mom/Joe on the street would understand the term. These new words often lose meaning fast and becoming jokingly trite. (Remember those words we looked for in playing Word Bingo during meetings—those are the ones you should avoid). Some new words of which to be aware that I found on WordSpy.

transliteracy n. The ability to read and write using multiple media, including traditional print media, electronic devices, and online tools.

DWT abbr. Driving while texting; driving a car while reading or sending text messages; and

freemium adj. Relating to a business model that offers basic services free, but charges a premium for advanced or special features.

I am not totally against the use of jargon. Every industry needs its own language to describe terms and create a sense of community. My issue is with writing that contains so much jargon, idioms and gobbledygook that it is incomprehensible.

I add to my list of jargon acronyms—is ATM a banking device or a transport technology? Is a PO a purchase order or probation officer? We also need to avoid using words that have become so broad that they’re meaningless, namely “flexible,” “scalable,” “groundbreaking,” and “cutting-edge” and instead share what makes the element of this flexible, scalable product groundbreaking.

In other words, we need to choose our words carefully to convey what we want to say so that our message will be understood.

Written by Lynda Starr

Last 3 posts by lstarr

• Broadband: The New, New Frontier? - September 9th, 2009
• We're all in the Communications Business - February 13th, 2009
• IPTV: Service and a Smile - January 15th, 2009

Tags: communications, jargon, word bingo

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under High Tech PR, Technology, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.