{"id":1593,"date":"2014-07-14T10:50:33","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T16:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:54:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:54:33","slug":"jargon-is-no-bargain-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/effective-writing\/jargon-is-no-bargain-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Jargon Is No Bargain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost a century ago, in 1916, the British author, editor, and literary critic Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944) published On the Art of Writing<\/em>. The book\u2019s fifth chapter is titled \u201cInterlude: On Jargon.\u201d Quiller-Couch abhorred jargon, a catchall term for pompous, bloated, clumsy, hackneyed, or impenetrable writing.<\/p>\n

Quiller-Couch, who wrote under the pen name \u201cQ,\u201d extols \u201cthe active verb and the concrete noun.\u201d He deplores \u201cdissolving vivid particulars into smooth generalities.\u201d If writers say what they mean in a strong, clear, direct voice, they can avoid the jargon trap. \u201cJargon is by no means accurate, its method being to walk circumspectly around its target; and its faith, that having done so it has either hit the bull\u2019s-eye or at least achieved something equivalent, and safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jargon is not necessarily long-winded. Q offers this sentence from a popular novel: \u201cI was entirely indifferent as to the results of the game, caring nothing at all as to whether I had losses or gains.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just twenty-three words, but for Q that\u2019s fifteen too many. First step: \u201cCut out the first \u2018as\u2019 in \u2018as to,\u2019 and the second \u2018as to\u2019 altogether.\u201d Second step: change \u201chad losses or gains\u201d to \u201cwon or lost.\u201d Third step: \u201cif you care not at all whether you win or lose, you must be entirely indifferent to the results of the game. So why not say \u2018I was careless if I won or lost,\u2019 and have done with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Q disdains words and phrases such as case, instance, nature, condition, persuasion, degree<\/em>, as regards<\/em>, with regard to<\/em>, in respect of<\/em>, in connection with<\/em>. \u201cThey are all dodges of Jargon, circumlocutions for evading this or that simple statement: and I say that it is not enough to avoid them nine times out of ten, or nine-and-ninety times out of a hundred. You should never use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jargon diminishes us not just as writers but as human beings: \u201cIf your language be Jargon, your intellect, if not your whole character, will almost certainly correspond. Where your mind should go straight, it will dodge: the difficulties it should approach with a fair front and grip with a firm hand it will be seeking to evade or circumvent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comic highlight of the chapter finds Q rewriting Hamlet\u2019s classic soliloquy. Here are Shakespeare\u2019s first five lines:<\/p>\n

To be, or not to be\u2014that is the question:
\nWhether \u2019tis nobler in the mind to suffer
\nThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
\nOr to take arms against a sea of troubles
\nAnd by opposing end them.<\/p>\n

Here is Q\u2019s jargon version:<\/p>\n

To be, or the contrary? Whether the former or the latter be preferable would seem to admit of some difference of opinion; the answer in the present case being of an affirmative or of a negative character according as to whether one elects on the one hand to mentally suffer the disfavour of fortune, albeit in an extreme degree, or on the other to boldly envisage adverse conditions in the prospect of eventually bringing them to a conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is Jargon,\u201d says Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, \u201cand to write Jargon is to be perpetually shuffling around in the fog and cotton-wool of abstract terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some examples of jargon. Can you improve these sentences?<\/p>\n

1. As regards the suspect, he was apprehended by a resident of an adjacent dwelling unit.<\/p>\n

2. Upon receipt of this memo dated July 26, please be herewith informed that our new parking policy will be effectuated immediately.<\/p>\n

3. In my case, I became instantly immersed in an ineffable atmosphere infused with elation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. As regards the suspect, he was apprehended by a resident of an adjacent dwelling unit. (A neighbor caught the suspect.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

2. Upon receipt of this memo dated July 26, please be herewith informed that our new parking policy will be effectuated immediately. (Our new parking policy takes effect on July<\/em> 26.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

3. In my case, I became instantly immersed in an ineffable atmosphere infused with elation. (Suddenly I felt happy beyond words.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost a century ago, in 1916, the British author, editor, and literary critic Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944) published On the Art of Writing. The book\u2019s fifth chapter is titled \u201cInterlude: On Jargon.\u201d Quiller-Couch abhorred jargon, a catchall term for pompous, bloated, clumsy, hackneyed, or impenetrable writing. Quiller-Couch, who wrote under the pen name \u201cQ,\u201d extols […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effective-writing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}