Re: Jargon Use
as another example -- "Boot" - jargon - but acceptable because it's a widely
used term.
Another consideration is the connotation of words. For example, "boot" is probably in wide enough use to be familiar to many people, but it still has a techy feel to it. Novice users might be slightly intimidated by it, so, when writing for them, I would be inclined to use the more neutral "start" instead. Writing for programmers, I wouldn't worry about it.
Similarly, I would think twice about using "information highway" or "cyber"-anything these days. Both terms sound obsolete in 2001. Nor would I advise anyone to "check out" a website for the same reason.
Even in technical documentation, I wouldn't want the company or product sounding obsolete, and I'd avoid such terms in marketing like - well, the plague :-)
For that matter, I wouldn't care to sound like a middle-aged guy who fondly imagined himself to be using the latest jargon.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"In the ashes of American Jerusalem
The prophets live their deaths out on the corner
The pretty people say, 'There should have been a warning'
But nobody heard it."
-Rod MacDonald, "American Jerusalem"
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References:
Jargon Use: From: Cameron Consulting
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