Does anyone have a list of writers jargon and abbreviations. Tell me and I wont subject you to mine.
QSL?, 73's
Steve L.
QSL?, 73's
Steve L.
Jargon
- Thread starter Steve Lenaghan
- Start date
- Status
Personally I dislike all jargon/acronymic speech and refuse to employ it. I take delight in pretending that I don't understand what a person is saying-- even if I do-- when he uses jargonism and abbreviations. I mean: "M-O-U-S-E" y'all. Gimme a fookin break already.
It probably has something to do with working around medical people as long as I have... doctors think their patients can't understand em when they use acronyms and abbreviations for everything: Doctor: "Let's order a CBC, LFTs, ESR, UA, and while we're at it a VDRL..."
Me: "Yea I just LOOK LIKE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO HAS A VENEREAL DISEASE, DON'T I, DOCTOR??? I just finished telling you I haven't had sex in a YEAR!"
Cops do that a lot too. Hm, my two most favoritest professions: Cops and doctors, both hopelessly hung on jargon. That couldn't have anything to do with it, could it...?
It probably has something to do with working around medical people as long as I have... doctors think their patients can't understand em when they use acronyms and abbreviations for everything: Doctor: "Let's order a CBC, LFTs, ESR, UA, and while we're at it a VDRL..."
Me: "Yea I just LOOK LIKE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO HAS A VENEREAL DISEASE, DON'T I, DOCTOR??? I just finished telling you I haven't had sex in a YEAR!"
Cops do that a lot too. Hm, my two most favoritest professions: Cops and doctors, both hopelessly hung on jargon. That couldn't have anything to do with it, could it...?
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2006
- Messages
- 6,179
- Reaction score
- 6,835
- Location
- Land of Bier
- Website
- www.authordenisebaer.com
I don’t have a list and I breeze over posts that have abbreviations. It’s a pet peeve of mine, but you can PM a mod if you want a list or assistance.
Oh crap. I was a cop and a paramedic. And a ham operator. ARRRRGH I am doomed.
Like the dumb nurse who left the cardio monitor facing me and got the comment from me that my pvc's were down to every third R wave and got offended that I understood everything they said. I think she wanted to search me for the secret decoder ring.
Like the dumb nurse who left the cardio monitor facing me and got the comment from me that my pvc's were down to every third R wave and got offended that I understood everything they said. I think she wanted to search me for the secret decoder ring.
Damn, you beat me to it. 
Oh well. LoL. A/s/l? TTYL. KTBSBPA! (<< If you know what that means, you're old.)
Oh well. LoL. A/s/l? TTYL. KTBSBPA! (<< If you know what that means, you're old.)
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2006
- Messages
- 6,179
- Reaction score
- 6,835
- Location
- Land of Bier
- Website
- www.authordenisebaer.com
PeeDee said:
Backstreet Boys 1992? Only 14 years ago. Gee I remember Perry Como so I must be realllllly old. And I remember what fun $5 and a pack of Zig-Zags could get you....
Last edited:
Steve Lenaghan said:Backstreet Boys 1992? Only 14 years ago. Gee I remember Perry Como so I must be realllllly old. And I remember what fun $5 and a pack of Zig-Zags could get you....
someone included it in an e-mail to me, the other day. In the early ninties, I used to hear it a lot from many Very Silly People. So, I thought I would share it.
I would rather listen to Perry Como, honestly. But yes, that does mean you're ancient.
PeeDee said:
To quote from my as yet unpublished ('cause it's still broke) Masterpiece.
“One of our archivists came across an ancient internet page from 2010 that had a fictional writing that documented what happened and that caught his attention.”
Ancient? Vic thought. I started out a sixty-year old thrust into a 17-year-old body, now I’m an artefact.
PeeDee said:Damn, you beat me to it.
Oh well. LoL. A/s/l? TTYL. KTBSBPA! (<< If you know what that means, you're old.)
I'm a lot older than the BSB's, but I still know how to Google!
Scarlett_156 said:
The thing is, you probably use jargon without even realizing you're doing it. As someone pointed out up thread. Such terms as 'Mary Sue' are jargon for writer's. How can you converse with members of your profession without using the language of the profession?
The thing I don't like about jargon is that it excudes people who don't understand it. It says you're a member of an exclusive club and those who don't belong aren't welcome. Why else use jargon, unless it's to impress? It's not a unifying thing to do.
The jargon I've used in technical/engineering work certainly isn't meant to exclude anyone, it's meant to shorten common long phrases and make communication faster and easier. It's a lot easier to say DSP than digital signal processor (three letters and syllables vs. 22 letters and two spaces, or eight syllables), and anyone who has even a vague idea what a digital signal processor is knows that DSP is an abbreviation for it. Even a lot of managers know that.janetbellinger said:
And if you don't know, try googling (how I love modern technology!) for DSP, see if you can find a hit that explains it.Would you give examples of jargon used in the way you describe and what types of people use it? I'll then go
janetbellinger said:
Can't agree. Our daily speech has endless jargon. Your computer has a modem, do you call it a modulator-demodulator? It's hooked to a Digital Subscriber Line or is it DSL? Nobody calls CNN Cable News Network. Jargon is a nothing more than a subset of a language, very often application specific. Some jargon we all use freely, some are likely unfamiliar. Jargon is a necessity. If I say 10-33 on my radio my dispatcher instantly knows I need help. I don't have to explain. There is nothing wrong with the English language but there are times where jargon has a place. Try being multilingual, most of the French jargon is English and does not translate directly.
Steve Lenaghan said:
And there are many, many people that are computer illiterate, and thusly are excluded when computers are being discussed.
10-33? I have no idea what that is, so that excludes me.
It absolutely excludes people in some cases, when its Jargon from a particular career, culture, or even a group of friends...
Jargon that is common place in our society isnt really the issue here.
janetbellinger said:
The thing I like about jargon is that it excludes people who don't understand it. It says you're a member of an exclusive club and those who don't belong aren't welcome.
Seriously, though, jargon is really nothing more than shorthand. Imagine having to describe the features that make a Mary-Sue every time you mentioned one!
The same impulse that has made the human animal develop language, makes it develop jargon. Language does two things: it facilitates communication, and it helps establish 'tribe'. Tribe in this context can be anything from your 'crowd' to your profession to your nation or state.
So if you think language and/or human society are good things, accept that jargon will pop in and out of existence, just like languages do, and 'tribes' do, over time.
I love being categorical. I really do.
So if you think language and/or human society are good things, accept that jargon will pop in and out of existence, just like languages do, and 'tribes' do, over time.
I love being categorical. I really do.
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2005
- Messages
- 9,907
- Reaction score
- 1,834
- Location
- Hiding in my writing cave
- Website
- www.cathyclamp.com
Do you mean like Publishing terminology (ARCs, D&A) and such, Steve? I made up a whole list of them here. They're not writer's terminology, like POV for point of view, but I haven't gotten around to making that list up yet.
- Status