Also referred to as technical jargon or technical language.
For example: The increase in methane and anthropogenic nitrous oxide poses a serious risk to the environment because it leads to higher global temperatures.
Jargon is terminology that is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession or group. It is technical language that fits within a specific context, such as “anthropogenic nitrous oxide” being from a scientific vocabulary.
Jargon may be a barrier to communication in that it is not necessarily familiar to individuals outside of that group or field. In the above example, the use of jargon doesn’t increase the reader’s understanding, but it does make the writer appear like an expert on the issue. For this reason, jargon is sometimes used to re-position the writer to make them appear like an authority on the issue.
Jargon is sometimes used in conjunction with statistics and appeals to experts.
Want to suggest an edit? Have some questions? General comments? Let us know how we can make this resource more useful to you.