W4-a: Jargon

W4-aStay away from jargon.

Jargon is special language used among members of a trade, profession, or group. Use jargon only when readers will be familiar with it and when plain English will not do as well.

jargon We outsourced the work to an outfit in Ohio because we didn’t have the bandwidth to tackle it in-house.
revised We hired a company in Ohio because we had too few employees to do the work.

Broadly defined, jargon includes puffed-up language designed more to impress readers than to inform them. The following are examples from business, government, higher education, and the military, with plain English alternatives in parentheses.

ameliorate (improve) indicator (sign)
commence (begin) optimal (best, most favorable)
components (parts) parameters (boundaries, limits)
endeavor (try) peruse (read, look over)
exit (leave) prior to (before)
facilitate (help) utilize (use)
impact (v.) (affect) viable (workable)

Sentences filled with jargon are hard to read, and they are often wordy as well.

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