| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| JARGON, CANT |
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| Jargon is a strongly pejorative label applied to language you can’t understand; it refers to those needlessly specialized words that other people use to impress or baffle the outsider with their erudition and distinction. And cant, which began by meaning “a whining beggars’ or thieves’ speech” or “the argot peculiar to a religious sect or other group,” came also to mean “hypocritical, insincere, pious talk,” as well as “the speech, the special words of a particular group or trade.” And cant too is almost always pejorative. | 1 |
| But jargon is mainly the language of the specialist: gentrification is likely to be a jargon word to one not familiar with downtown real estate, city planning, and urban sociology, but for those whose occupational or other interests are involved, it can be a useful term, saving much time and explanation. The trouble most language people find with jargon, however, is that much of it is needlessly obscure, and some of it is windily pretentious; its use where not really necessary is a hindrance, not a help, to communication. Nearly all commentators belabor governmental use of jargon, some of it euphemistic and full of doublespeak, and the worst of it inaccurate, imprecise, and confusing to the ordinary citizen. Yet when physicians and surgeons begin to discuss your case among themselves, you don’t begrudge them their jargon; what you will object to is their unwillingness or inability to tell you what you need to know, in language you can understand. There may be good jargon and bad jargon, but if the listener or reader cannot understand it, it is all useless language or worse. See also SECRET LANGUAGES. | 2 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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