Re: on jargon
Much has been said about the use of jargon. I do not know whether Lewis
Carrol's "Through the Looking-Glass" has been mentioned. Humpty Dumpty,
the arrogant egg, silences Alice with:
...
"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,' " Alice objected.
"When I (italics) use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful
tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."
"The question is,' said Alice, "whether you can (italics) make words mean
so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's
all." Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty
Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs,
they're the proudest adjectives -- you can do anything with, but not verbs
-- however, I (italics) can manage the whole of them! Impenetrability!
That's what I (italics) say!"
"Would you tell me, please,' said Alice "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very
much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that
subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do
next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful
tone.
"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I
always pay it extra."
"Oh!' said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.
...
(quoted from: Martin Gardner's "The Annotated Alice" and Adobe (tm)
Acrobat (tm) CD Sampler)
So, as I would interpret it, we are masters AND slaves of our words.The
jargon doesn't matter, what matters is whether it is used to liberate us
or to control us. And me thinks the same holds true with organizations.
-- Jan Lelie 100730.1213@CompuServeCheap slaves liberating rich thoughts