Business Writing Tips from The Writing Center
Avoid Jargon and Pompous Wording
August 23, 2007
Jargon is the special
vocabulary of a trade or group. Pompous wording is unnecessarily
difficult vocabulary selected to impress the reader. What harm do jargon
and pompous wording do, as in the following example?
The biota exhibited 100% mortality response.
All readers have egos. They may be too embarrassed to admit that they
don't know the terms or words, especially if they think they should know
them. So they may act on what they think you said rather than on what
you did say. The result could be costly errors.
Readers are busy. If your message is not readily understood, they
may not take the time to figure it out; they'll do what they think you
said to do--or, ignore the message.
One third of business documents aren't
understood by intended readers .
How do you ensure that readers understand your message even when you
must use specialized vocabulary? To answer that question, next week
we'll explore how to translate technical terms.
This edition was adapted from our Effective
Business Writing Program. Previous editions
may be read at
http://www.uliveandlearn.com/newsletters/index.cfm.
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