[Air-l] levels of jargon

[O'Riordan, Kate]

This is really interesting - I agree the jargon/not jargon issue is a real challenge possibly particular to those of trained in academic writing (although I am sure there are other arenas where it is an issue). 

I am intrigued as to how this plays out though – the challenge of interdisciplinary and multiple languages, is I think creative and productive.   I would agree with that we might all know what IM, CMC or CSCW are - I would still think it polite in writing a document to put all short hands in full in the first time of use or at least in a foot note – although not on this list serv. 

I have no idea what regression coefficients or significance tests are but I would have made the opposite guess that "performativity" was a common term across the social sciences.   At the same time the hypothetical scenario with partners makes no sense to me at all! 

(And of course, OTOH is a jargon term I assume is
commonly understood.) 

- Again not for me although - as with the above - I could make a guess or look it up - something I would expect to have to do at some point in most reading.

I’d also observe that the McGyver reference is not only to do with age considerations, and certainly TV is infinitely re-runnable, but it does seem also to be a very nationally specific reference which would be obscure in many national contexts. 

The thing that really interests me about all this (and why I have found it interesting to reflect on how my interpretation differs) - is the productive tension – in that I think any attempt to categorise what is  jargon/not jargon has some kind of politics  of normalisation i.e. what is acceptable and for whom.  At the same time it is a useful and necessary exercise.  

I would imagine that this would be seen differently by almost everyone on the list – I would also imagine that we might all have different points of difference and agreement with this categorisation (and any other) and that seems to me to be part of the creative challenge of this kind of network.  I wonder if it would be possible to refine guidelines of this kind to meet a general consensus in this context or if we would always have too many exception clauses?

Many thanks, all the best
Kate O’Riordan