Every discipline has its own specialized language, its membership rites, its secret handshake. In its most benign and neutral definition, jargon signifies "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group." More often, however, the jingly word that Chaucer used to describe "the inarticulate utterance of birds" takes…

The language used by adults in an early childhood setting is one of the most telling indicators of the values of a center. Each center has its own culture of language that consists of often heard phrases and scripts used when teaching and caring for young children. Listening closely to words, tones, and scripts--educators tune into what is unseen,…

Each profession has its own insider language. Thick with acronyms and polysyllabics, such argot helps colleagues communicate complex ideas precisely and with as few words as possible. But even by the standards of technical talk, the jargon of education often seems unnecessarily, perhaps willfully, opaque--even to other educators. To the…

Describes a project which investigated perceived differences in the oral communication of technical information, and whether discrimination of gender based upon these perceptions is accurate. Results showed significant gender difference and that respondents largely based their perception of gender on use of technical language or jargon. Manner and…