jargon = "word or phrase in common usage that is disapproved by a special-interest group"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I can add  that _Harper's_ is a "source usually considered trustworthy," at least by gullible me. The magazine quoted _Texas Longhorn Trails_ as describing the "jargon" words as "words that don't send a positive image to the general public."

  For the record, here is the remaining "jargon" and "alternatives" that _Harper's_ says it drew from the cattle-raisers:

  "drugs/ chemicals  = compounds/ health products/ pharmaceuticals

  "hormones   =  growth promotants

  "fat cattle  =  market-ready cattle

  "welfare ranching  =  cattle grazing on public lands

  "operation  =  farm/ ranch

  "castrate/ cut  = neuter"


  The suggested replacement of "castrate" with "neuter" seems relatively innocuous to me, as does "market-ready" for "fat."

  JL


"Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Baker, John"
Subject: Re: jargon = "word or phrase in common usage that is disapproved
by a special-interest group"
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I was going to do a post on the different things that are going
on here - that "operator" really is jargon better replaced, for PR
purposes, by "farmer" or "rancher," that the replacements for
"slaughter" and "pain" are Orwellian (in the sense of straightforward
terms being replaced by obfuscatory bureaucratese with less negative
associations), that "family farming" is an affirmative change in meaning
from "factory farming." But then I got to the last example, "rape the
land = care for the land," and it aroused my suspicions. Do we know
that this short piece is accurately quoted from Texas Longhorn Trails?
Because these other terms are all things that cattlemen talk about, but
they don't talk so much about raping the land.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 3:42 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: jargon = "word or phrase in common usage that is disapproved by
a special-interest group"

Remember my post on "product evangelism" ? That's the name given to
using every legal (and conceivably legal) dodge imaginable to push your
wares, never forgetting that one sucker per minute is too few. Compare
the following.

A short article in _Harper's_ (Nov., 1992, p. 33) was based on a piece
in _Texas Longhorn Trails_, self-described as "the official publication
of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America." The
salt-of-the-earth cattlemen and cattlewomen observed that "An important
part of media and spokesperson training is making sure that the words
you use convey the meaning you intend."

Amen, cattle-dudes and -dudettes. However, the people who help feed
the world with burgers then offer a list of "words you should try to
replace with alternatives, especially when talking to a general
audience."

I will bore you with only a few exx., the point being that the
patty-producers identify the _words needing replacement_ as "Jargon."

First, the Orwellian "Jargon." After the equals sign, the
square-shootin' "Alternatives":

"slaughter = process/ harvest/ go to market"

"pain = short-term discomfort"

"factory farming = family farming"

"operator = farmer/ rancher"

"rape the land = care for the land"

So avoid "jargon" ! You don't have to be a vegansexual to find
something that "tastes and smells bad" about this B.S.

That was fifteen years ago. "Spin science" ( a term I think I just
coined but fear otherwise) has undoubtedly made dramatic strides since
then.

JL

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