Sunday, March 21, 2021

Language matters

 Using acronyms, internal established slang, management speak and special terms can make writing simpler. This however comes at a cost to the reader having to understand the written content. When your  reader is not initiated to the terms the text may even act as a barrier to exclude people from understanding what you are writing (or talking) about.

There is however a certain trend to exhibit expertise trough obscurity that is especially troubling. The definition of an expert should first and foremostly contain the criteria to communicate clearly and understandably. People may not have the sufficient experience to challenge the expert, don't bother, or are busy doing more important stuff. It requires energy to point out the problem. As an expert the most important thing to accomplish is however to communicate with others, and doing so clearly.

When you write it takes time, but only once. Using an acronym can save a few keystrokes, but is this a significant optimisation? If the text is read by many people you should in stead optimise for reader efficiency. Forcing the reader to look up terms is time consuming and even error prone. Making the reader wonder what something means also costs time.

There are also a lot of terms to avoid that has a problematic past history, even if you do not intend any offence or you intend to give a new meaning. You can however not know what the reader understands and experiences when encountering such a word. It can be hard to know upfront all problematic words, so be ready to apologise and change when someone reacts to what you communicate. 

Extensive use of acronyms, slang, and specialised terms are all ways to set yourself up to fail with what you try to communicate. At least define the terms you are using and assume that the reader does not know the meaning of the special terms. The reader who already know the term can always easily skip the definition at a very low cost.