I am currently reading “The Prisoner of Guantanamo” .  while it is a fictional account, the author was a reporter turned novelist and I have found his previous books to be quite accurate.

At the beginning of the tale there is a three page section dedicated to the jargon and acronyms of the Guantanamo Bay naval base and prison.

One Language is not enough

I started to wonder about the adequacy of the English language.  Clearly it either not descriptive enough , too complex or hard to pronounce.

The solution appears to be just to create language addendums (jargon) and shorten phrases and things to the first letter only (nouns).

All of this creates an advantage for those who know the terminology.    They understand the conversation while another might not until familiarity sets in.  Until all are fluent those in the know have some power over the others.

Is there a value to “org” speak.

Having organizational or even family specific jargon can speed information exchanges but often at the risk of decreased clarity.  Jargon is often vague (intentionally so).  It sounds cool but often actually means little.

For example, I love the phrase “I’m on it”.  Often used to convey the message that the task is underway.   What task, what objective and when will it be done are not part of this message, but it sounds good.

Crisp, clean seems to have meaning.

Plain English

While jargon and acronyms are used extensively, I alway question the purpose.  Is this for communication or power? (I understand stuff you don’t).

For me, sticking to plain English is the method of choice.