Political jargons and some issues related to their usage

Jargon is the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group; or language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.

Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside the context. The context is usually a particular occupation, but any ingroup can have a jargon. The main trait that distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is special vocabulary- including some words specific to it and often different senses or meanings of words, that outgroups would tend to take in another sense- therefore misunderstanding that communication attempt. Jargon is sometimes understood as a form of technical slang and then distinguished from the official terminology used in a particular field of activity.

Etymology. In what cases is jargon used? Jargon can help us characterize a person. If he uses term like BP or NPO, he is probably in the medical field. If he uses the terms bubble or insolvency when talking about the economy and money, in general, he is probably an accountant. Jargon sets one apart from the other based on his chosen profession and interests.

The French word is believed to have been derived from the Latin word gaggire, meaning “to chatter”, which was used to describe speech that the listener did not understand. The word may also come from Old French jargon meaning “chatter of birds”. Middle English also has the verb jargounen meaning “to chatter”, or ”twittering”, deriving from Old French.

The first use of the word dates back to the usage of the word in The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. Chaucer referred to jargon as the utterance of birds or sounds resembling birds.

In colonial history, jargon was seen as a device of communication to bridge the gap between two speakers who did not speak the same tongue. Jargon was synonymous with pidgin in naming specific language usages. Jargon then began to have a negative connotation with lacking coherent grammar, or gibberish as it was seen as a “broken” language of many different languages with no full community to call their own. In the 1980s, linguists began restricting this usage of jargon to keep the word to more commonly define a technical or specialized language use.

Now we will have a look to political jargons and use of them with several examples. Political jargon refers to the words and phrases used by politicians, lobbyists, the media, and other people to talk about political issues in a aquicker, coded way. Political jargon is the shared language of catch phrases spoken by those in politics. Following are some examples of political jargon. Here are some examples of political jargons:

Left-Wing: a politician or citizen who is more liberal than the average person. Typically, this is someone who is for socialized medicine, for pro-choice, among many other issues.

Right-Wing: a politician and citizen who is more conservative than the average person. This typically means someone who is looking for lowered taxes, especially on the upper class, for decentralization of government, and someone who shoots down gay right issues with discussion of “family values”.

Flip flopper: a candidate or politician who changes his mind on certain important issues over time. Bailout: helping a large company with its debts with the intention that the company will repay the money in the future.

Bipartisan: an effort that brings together both political parties in mutual agreement.

Grown in office: a political term used for someone who won office based on one set of principles, but over time adopted an opposite set of principles.

Frankenfood: this term is used by politicians and lobbyists to refer to genetically-modified food products.

Public Servants: political jargon for an elected official.

Reform: to change a law or a system to make it better or more efficient.

Lame duck: a politician who is considered ineffective, either because he or she was recently elected out of office or announced retirement.

Kool-aid-drinker: derogatory term for an individual who votes for a candidate or a party against their common sense.

These are all examples of political slang terms or political speech that is used commonly by those on the “inside” of politics.

Outside of the uncomfortable dialect issue, we may expect to understand someone when we speak the same language. Unfortunately, this is not true. One of the biggest communication barriers- and one that is easily avoided- is the use of jargon. Jargon words are meant to enhance communication by simplifying a particular concept. This works when everyone involved in the conversation is aware of the word’s meaning.

However, there some drawbacks of jargons. In other word there is sometime that jargon does not work. To someone who is not clued in, however, it can be seen as technical slobbery. At the very least, it can confuse the message so the recipient loses interest. Jargon can waste time and money. When documents and emails take longer to read and to understand, people may grow frustrated. Time is wasted when unknown terms have to be explained or are interpreted incorrectly and result in errors of deciphering, which leads to errors in follow-up action. Business opportunities may be lost, along with potential money-making possibilities, when jargon is misunderstood.

So what should we do if the situation itself demands to use jargons. When jargon is unavoidable… There is a good side to jargon. Jargon-philes are able to share their new techno-terms with ease amongst their fellow professionals. As new concepts and ideas are developed, communities can quickly convey essential solutions and strategies with their jargon-sounding words. The trick is to pay attention to your audience and minimize the use of jargon in content created for clients who do not live, eat, and breathe the particular jargon-speak you do. Despite the diehards who wish to defend the English language and bam all jargon and buzzwords, we are not going to see an end to it. We love to manufacture words to convey meaning in our ever-expanding landscape of ideas and interests. Jargon often ends up becoming a household term. Various communities use jargon that inevitably falls into common use, including technical, business, and military jargon.

Jargon filled content can be risky. Jargon can hurt your SEO because users will search for terms that they are familiar with and reflect the way they speak. Jargon can also be boring sometimes. It means, if we do not understand something, we quickly lose interest. When jargon serves a useful purpose, it can be on-point in its message. We should use jargon wisely when we communicate and help our audience out by demysatisfying anything that might be unclear. It demands to be used in a correct way.