Jargon

Jargon is when you use specialist language specific to a particular academic subject, profession, trade, hobby, or activity to exclude people who don’t understand it. It can feel a bit like a secret code that helps the people in the ‘in’ group communicate easily while keeping the ‘out’ group confused or ignorant.

When we talk about or analyse jargon in text, it’s usually about specialist professional spheres. You usually have to read specific books, attend university, work in that industry, or be around people who belong in it to understand the language. You might even need a special license to become a professional!

Here are some very common types of jargon that you might see people talk about:

• Legal (we often call this ‘legalese’)
• Medical
• Therapy
• Scientific
• Religious
• Educational
• Academic
• Linguistic
• IT
• Business
• Accounting
• Horticultural/Gardening
• Film and TV
• Economic

In fact, you could argue that this whole glossary is dedicated to helping you understand arts, humanities and social science jargon!

You usually only call specialist language ‘jargon’ when you want to focus on how exclusive it is or how difficult it is for the average person to understand. It’s very rare to see the term used when specialist language is used with a group of people who can all understand the words and use them properly, or who won’t be impressed if you use them!

If a doctor uses medical terms while talking to their colleagues, you probably won’t find it called ‘jargon’ very often. That kind of specialist language is important for them to use because it’s more accurate and efficient than how they might describe the same thing with more high-frequency vocabulary.

On the other hand, a doctor will try to reduce their use of specialist language with a patient. They don’t expect their patients to be medical experts, so specialist language would make it more difficult for the patient to understand them. If a doctor did start using a lot of medical terminology in that situation, that’s when we might refer to it as ‘jargon’.

In other words, we use the term ‘jargon’ when specialist language has been foregrounded – when we’re supposed to notice it and comment on its use.

Note: this glossary contains affiliate links. If you use them, I may earn a small commission.

When do people use jargon?

Jargon has plenty of uses in English.

Of course, I can’t list every single use. Otherwise, I’d have to read every single piece of text that uses jargon ever! It would be literally impossible.

However, I can give you the broad patterns of when and where people use it. That way, when you confront it in the wild, you’ll have a good idea of what the text producer is trying to do. You might even be able to use it effectively in your own texts!

Appearing smart, knowledgeable and credible

The main reason why someone might use jargon is to impress the text receiver. They want to make themselves seem more intelligent and credible.

It makes sense, to be honest. You have to be pretty well-read to understand technical language – and it’s even more impressive to use it properly!

By using jargon, you’re proving to your text receiver that you’re part of a smart ‘in-group’ with experience in that field. This is especially true when you’re trying to be persuasive, such as in a speech. In that case, you might be using jargon as a way to increase your ethos and make you seem like you know what you’re talking about.

There are times when people use jargon outside of their own specialist field. When they do this, they are basically trying to prove that they know a lot about other professional fields, as well. They’re basically saying, ‘Look! I’m a polymath! I’m so smart that I can understand jargon from other people’s fields!’

That’s one of the perks of using jargon. Someone doesn’t need to understand what you’re saying to be able to understand that you sound smart. They can just tell because you’re using words that sound like things they associate with that specialist field.

In fact, it’s often better if they don’t know what you mean because then it will be more impressive to them! If you’re surrounded by people who all understand 100% of the words you’ve said, it doesn’t count as jargon anymore. You’re just using appropriate words for the context. And they’re likely to notice if you make a mistake or use a word in a strange way!

People will often combine jargon with sesquipedalian words that make it sound like you’ve swallowed a dictionary. The more big words you know, the more educated and well-read you sound, right?

That’s actually not completely true, but we’ll come to that in a bit.

Disarming non-experts

The fact that jargon is exclusive can be used in your favour. When you use it with non-experts, it helps you to pull the wool over their eyes. You can use it to make it seem like you know way more about a topic than you actually do! Of course, the words need to sound like they come from the correct field for this to work.

We’re all guilty of falling for that assumption. In fact, it’s so common that it’s a big part of a well-known cognitive bias called the Halo Effect! That’s when our overall impression of a person or thing affects how much we trust it. And since the use of jargon can create the ethos of an expert, we can get wrapped up in thinking they know what they’re talking about, even if they actually have no clue.

For example, I know nothing about medicine. So, if you said some long word that ends in ‘itis’, it would probably sound enough like a medical term for me not to question it. I mean, how am I supposed to know if you’re telling the truth? I don’t have the knowledge to know if I’m wrong. So, if you use the jargon confidently enough, I’ll be inclined to believe you.

My favourite example of this comes from the classic film Legally Blonde. Let’s have a look at the scene I’m talking about!

In this scene, Ella (the protagonist) confuses her friend’s ex-boyfriend with legalese, which is the fancy name for legal jargon. Here are some examples of the legalese she uses:

• Subject matter jurisdiction
• Habeas corpus
• Common-law marriage
• Equitable division of the assets

Anyone who understands even the basics of law knows that she’s saying completely random, made-up things. Habeas corpus has nothing to do with what she’s talking about! However, the man she’s talking to isn’t an expert. So, he believes he has to trust that what she’s saying is accurate and that he could get in trouble if he doesn’t give the dog back.

She also sprinkles in some other big words like ‘heretofore’ to confuse him. These words aren’t legal jargon, but they are usually used in legal situations. They also make her words less accessible to anyone who hasn’t had a higher level of education.

Between Elle’s jargon, low-frequency vocabulary and the fact that she puts on the glasses to look more like a lawyer, she has created the impression that she’s a knowledgeable lawyer. That made the man fall for the Halo Effect!

Creating an ‘Us vs Them’ mentality

As I’ve said quite a few times now, jargon is very exclusive. There has to be an ‘in-group’ and an ‘out-group’ for it to count! So, it’s a way of separating people based on what they know. If you understand what the speaker is saying, you’re ‘on the inside’. You’re one of the ‘smart’ people who can be included in the group.

If you’re confused and have no clue what the speaker is saying, then you’re not ‘in their group’. According to them, the text isn’t ‘for’ you, and you’re supposed to struggle to understand it. It’s on purpose. They’re trying to make it so that you can’t access the conversation.

When people use jargon in this way, they’re often trying to question your intelligence or make you feel like you don’t belong. They want you to pay attention to the fact that you’re different from them and all the people who understand them and speak in the same strange code. It’s all about highlighting how you’re not the same.

I’ve seen people do this so that they can talk about something without specific members of the conversation understanding.

It’s kind of like code-switching to Spanish in the middle of your conversation so that the one non-Spanish speaker has no clue what you’re saying. If they didn’t want to make it obvious that they were excluding that person, they would have just spoken privately. They want to make it very clear they’re saying something private and exclusive.

To cover up insecurity or lack of knowledge

As I’ve already said, people use jargon to sound smart. If they want you to think they know what they’re talking about, they’ll throw in the specialist language they know for the sake of building the ethos of an expert.

However, that doesn’t mean that they’re actually smart! In fact, people who know lots about a topic are a lot more discerning about when they use specialist language. They do it when it makes the most sense!

Why? Well, a confident expert doesn’t need to prove they’re an expert. They just are! They don’t spend a lot of their time convincing us of their legitimacy. There are plenty of other things that they can rely on to build their ethos as an expert. Their actions and credentials do a lot of the work for them.

Plus, an expert will often know when it feels the most natural to use a piece of specialist language. They’ll know what crowds needs to hear the more precise version, and when it would feel odd to say the big, long, exclusive word. Experts can identify when specialist language would make the conversation less efficient. And when they’re using it in the right contexts, we don’t really see it as jargon, anyway!

So lots of people who overuse jargon do it to cover up their own insecurities. It’s a way to compensate for the fact that they don’t know as much as they’d like.

I’m sure we’ve all been there: using big words to hide the fact that we don’t feel as confident in our knowledge as we’d like. I know I do it when I feel like I’m losing arguments!

Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re unintelligent if you use too much jargon. Anyone can feel insecure from time to time – even the experts! We can all experience impostor syndrome. Feeling insecure about your knowledge is an important part of the learning process. It encourages you to learn more!

There are two types of insecurity-based jargon use:

1. The person is knowledgeable. They just feel insecure at the moment.
2. The person is hiding the fact that they lack key knowledge.

These two types will naturally look very different. With the first one, they’re still going to use the specialist terms properly; they just might use them a little too often. With the second, you can’t count on them using all the terms correctly at all times.

This is a very useful thing to know, especially if you’re writing or analysing a fictional character. Overuse of jargon in dialogue can show that the character doubts their abilities. The more inappropriately they use the language, the more it shows that they’re putting on an act.

When they aren’t used to communicating with non-specialists

I’m currently doing my MA in English. That’s required me to read through thousands. of pages of work written by experts in Literature and Linguistics. With all of that reading under my belt, I can tell you about another way I’ve stumbled upon that people accidentally use lots of jargon: when they’re not used to explaining their thoughts to non-experts.

I’ve read so many guides that claim to be written for beginners, which actually sound like they’re written for other experts. Frankly, it often makes it quite hard to access a topic! I often have to power through dozens of inaccessible texts that are supposed to be ‘introductions’ to an idea before I eventually start to pick up the lingo.

Edward Said’s Orientalism is a really good example of this. On the one hand, it’s a crucial text for anyone who wants to understand Postcolonial Theory. On the other hand, it’s dense as anything, and not an easy read the first time you turn to it.

This use of jargon is absolutely not intentional. In fact, it’s hard not to make this mistake when you’ve been an expert in your field for a long time! You get so used to talking to other experts who understand your specialist language that it becomes second nature to you. Next thing you know, you’re overwhelming newbies with waves of jargon!

Plus, being able to explain complex ideas to beginners is a skill that you have to work at, and not all universities expect their top-level professors to be good at it. The top unis are often more concerned with research!

It turns out, teaching people well isn’t as easy as it looks. Who would have thought?

Why do we only call it ‘jargon’ when it excludes people?

If you want to do well in analysis in English, there’s one thing you need to understand:

There’s no point in talking about a method, tool or device if you’re not using it to say anything useful. If the writer is using language in completely ordinary and expected ways, there’s probably not much for you to write about (especially at GCSE and A-level).

You’re past the stage where you can play Where’s Wally with literary devices. Now, everything you say needs to have a point.

That’s why I love talking about foregrounding so much! It forces you to think about the unusual choices the writer has made and what they want you to notice! That’s going to give you much more to analyse.

That’s very true with jargon. If everyone in the conversation understands the specialist technical language being used and they’re expected to use those terms in that context, there’s not much to say about it. It’s just normal language.

Recognising something as ‘jargon’ instead of simply ‘specialist language’ is all about how appropriate it is for the setting and context. When two doctors get together to chat about their work, it would be strange for them not to use technical medical language, right? So it’s not jargon because it’s appropriate for everyone in the conversation (the interlocutors).

On the other hand, if there are people involved in the conversation who feel confused and out of the loop, the language foregrounds itself. That’s when it becomes jargon.

You need to actually analyse the use of jargon rather than just pointing out that it’s there. So, ask yourself who the ‘outsiders’ are and why they’re being excluded.

While it’s common for people to use jargon to contribute to the ethos of a speech or other text, there’s much more to it than that. It’s also about creating a group identity and identifying who you’re trying to exclude. In a persuasive text, you might do this to show your text receivers that you’re the expert and they aren’t. So, they should trust your judgement.

What about when jargon is better for the situation?

I have said over and over again that jargon is all about being exclusive. But what about when it’s more appropriate to use specialist language in the situation, even when there are people present who wouldn’t understand?

Well, there are many times when you might need to use language that could exclude certain people!

Medical emergencies are a good example of this. When medical professionals are trying to save someone’s life, they need to speak to one another in medical language. That’s true even if non-medics are in the area and care about what’s going on. It’s more accurate and efficient. So, they can communicate ideas quickly and diagnose problems more effectively.

In that situation, we don’t call it ‘jargon’. Why? Well, it’s because saving someone’s life is the appropriate thing to do, so any language you need to use to do that is appropriate! Even if it excludes people!

In that kind of situation, being understood by non-medics isn’t the priority. They’re not trying to show off others or make themselves look smart, and they’re definitely not trying to exclude anyone on purpose. They just want to communicate in a way that might save a life.

In fact, doctors would foreground their language more if they didn’t use specialist language in that kind of context. Could you imagine now confused a nurse would be if they started calling all their tools by basic terms like ‘knife’, and ‘water bag’?

Teaching is another good example of a time when you use specialist language with non-experts, and it isn’t jargon. I’m trying to teach you right here, and I’ve used lots of specialist language like ‘foregrounding’ and ‘interlocutors’. I do that so that you can learn new terms and get used to how they’re used in context, not to exclude you!

Is therapy speak jargon?

Yes, therapy speak is absolutely another example of people using jargon! I would say it falls under the category of people trying to legitimise themselves using psychological language, even if they know nothing about it.

What makes it frustrating for therapists and other psychology professionals (as well as the people who listen to them) is that the jargon is usually used poorly. People think they know how to use the terms properly, but they rarely do!

Therapy speak is one of those interesting cases where the people using the jargon are actually part of the ‘out-group’. They’re using terms that exclude them! In fact, the more they use them, the clearer that becomes!

It’s a really common problem online. The one that’s most common right now is ‘gaslighting‘. People seem to think that anyone who lies to you or disagrees with you about something is gaslighting you. That’s not the case at all. We all have different interpretations of events, so accusing someone of gaslighting over a disagreement is just plain wrong.

We’ve also been through phases online of using terms like ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, ‘OCD’ and ‘narcissist’ badly. There are loads of examples of terms we throw around that we have no clue how to use properly!

The worst part of it is that we often make it harder for professionals to do their jobs when we do this. We stigmatise certain things and romanticise others, which really muddies the waters for them. At best, it means they spend way too much time explaining things they shouldn’t have to. At worst, it can mean people avoid treatment or waste professionals’ time with concerns they completely misunderstood!

Why it’s usually a good idea to avoid jargon

As I said before, jargon is when you use specialist language at inappropriate times or to exclude people who aren’t in the ‘in-group’. So, unless you’re actually trying to draw attention to your use of specialist language, why would you do it?

We’re not talking about when it’s appropriate to use specialist language, here. We’ve already covered some of the times when it would be weird not to use language from a specific domain, even when not everyone present understands.

But you should always be asking yourself one simple question: if using simple language would be more effective, why wouldn’t you just do that?

If you have a good reason, go for it! Otherwise, it’s even better if you can use simple language to talk about complex ideas in simple language. It shows that you’re confident enough with the topic to fully explain what you’re saying. You’re probably quite knowledgeable on the subject. You might even be an expert!

I think this quote encapsulates what I mean perfectly:

If I can’t explain something I’m doing to a group of bright undergraduates, I don’t really understand it myself.

Daniel C. Dennett, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

It’s an important principle to live by, in my opinion! The more you understand an idea, the easier it becomes to explain it. You won’t have to rely on jargon nearly as much! You can just explain your thoughts with nice, simple language!

If you do need to use specialist language, make sure you explain it first. Plus, don’t overdo it. I recommend surrounding it with simple language so that your text receivers can use the words they do know to get the gist of what you’re saying. That way, they can come along for the ride with you.

Why do you think I made this glossary for the website? The point is for it to link to my other posts, pages, and community chats to help you. That way, I can make sure you understand what I’m saying at all times. I’m here to teach, not to confuse or exclude!

Where can you learn more?

As usual, it’s important that you don’t just take my word for it with these terms. You should confirm that I’m right by seeking out other sources that give you more information about the term!

Plus, if you really want an idea to stick in your head, you should learn about it from as many different sources and in as many different ways as you can. Each source will explain it differently and add something new. That could be a new image, example or question that just makes things click for you.

By the end, you’ll become an expert who doesn’t need to overdo the jargon!

If you’d like to read more about this term, I recommend you check out these books and links:

• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics
• English Language & Literature for the IB Diploma Programme
• Language and Literature: MYP by Concept 2
• Literary Devices

While none of these sources explicitly say that jargon excludes people, all of them mention that it isn’t understood by people outside of the specialist field. Also, we don’t often need to call something ‘jargon’ unless we want to draw attention to the fact that not everyone understands it! Otherwise, it’s not foregrounding itself, so there’s not much to say.

Also, check out this video! It’s about cults and cult leaders, but they talk about how jargon can be used in those kinds of contexts. They say some very useful things! It will help you come to grips with a nuanced use of jargon!