You've heard them, probably even been a victim of one, either at a party or on the end of a phone, that annoying person who insists on speaking in a stream of jargon, expecting you to understand what the heck they are talking about. They are Jargonista, using jargon to make you feel stupid or to compensate for a small penis, or a total lack of knowledge of their subject.
It doesn't matter what the topic is, if you get caught by a Jargonista, take them to task. If they can't explain something without using jargon, then either they don't understand what they are talking about, or they are a complete dickhead who doesn't deserve the time of day.
Why am I waffling on about Jargonistas? Being in the computer industry you'd think I would be immune to the Jargonista. We, after all, invented jargon, didn't we? Apparently not, it seems. I was on the phone for the last three days talking to an accountant, and for jargon, these guys make us computer geeks look like rank amateurs. And you know what? The same rules apply. Jargon is an exclusive language, it is used as a shorthand to allow people in the same 'club' to quickly understand what you are talking about. But to those outside the 'club' it excludes, it confuses, it obscures, it belittles. Anyone who uses jargon outside of the 'club' is only trying to be a smartarse.
I've spent years teaching people, and if you want people to understand something you need to demystify it. The first step in demystifying is to use language that your audience will understand. Even the legal profession has got this and have started drafting documents using 'plain language' rather than the legalese they have developed over the last thousand years or so. It seems however that some groups are still to learn this lesson.
Accountancy and computer support are not that dissimilar, both are service businesses. If I, as a support professional, spoke to people and tried to 'explain' in the way my accountant 'explained' to me, I would be out of business. Needless to say, I'm on the search for a new accountant.
