# Use of jargon when posting questions **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 17, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962 "2014-03-17T23:01:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/81 "2014-03-18T03:11:09Z")
> [@turtlescanfly](#): > > I guess this is where we disagree. I don’t happen to believe the OP made a mistake in his choice of language. He used terms that (I believe) he had every expectation would be understood by his audience. Yet he was accused of using “ridiculous” terms and being purposefully obscure. I just don’t see it. Exactly. While “C-Level” isn’t as common, I’ve never worked a job in company bigger than a mom-n-pop store that didn’t use the term “Direct Reports”. If “Direct Report” is obscure/arcane/etc, then so is “Tenure” or “peer-reviewed paper” ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/82 "2014-03-18T03:17:33Z")
but the jargon used _is_ obscure - [cite](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=718605). ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/83 "2014-03-18T03:22:34Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I find it odd that so many posters were apparently unaware of these conversational expectations.I find it odd that I had to spell such a basic one out in my previous post. Of course it is expected that I will not have to use Google to understand what you say. If you don’t know a commonly used business term, that’s hardly the OP’s problem. If you don’t know what CEO or CFO means and have to google them, it’s also not the OP’s problem. We’re supposed to be about fighting ignorance, right? That should include one’s own. > [@](#): > > The OP made a small mistake. It only became a big deal because some clueless people insisted it wasn’t one, and, as ignorance fighters, a lot of us felt the need to explain how it was a mistake. That some people continued stubborn with said ignorance is why it got heated. Stubborn ignorance tends to annoy people around here. Yes, stubborn ignorance–like willfully refusing to look up two common phrases that one is unfamiliar with, rather than asking the OP to dumb down his post _is_ annoying. The OP made no mistake at all except to assume that some people here aren’t “clueless”. Seriously–this is supposed to be a board filled with the “smartest people on the internet” but faced with two common terms that are outside of their experience, they pigpile the OP? Rather than do the “oh, we’re oh-so-inquisitive in our hungry quest to fight ignorance” thing that is constantly bragged about on the SDMB and look them up and fight their own ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/84 "2014-03-18T03:31:39Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > If what you say is true, it was in the wrong forum. It should be on some business law forum. Why? We have all sorts of opinion threads on other aspects of law. Our Treyvon Martin/George Zimmerman threads were epic (I did not participate) as well as indepth discussions of Stand Your Ground. We’ve had long conversations about the constitutionality of DOMA. We’ve had questions on divorce law, on employment law, about parental rights, about tax law, and about sovereign citizens. Is there some reason you believe business law specifically doesn’t belong here? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/85 "2014-03-18T03:36:33Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > I think its a particular hatred for so called “buzzwords” as opposed to other jargon or career-specific phrasing. For some reason the language used by large corporations is seen as particularly worthy of derision, in a way that other jargon is not. > > Had the OP in that other thread posted in IMHO “An adjunct professor in my department is bonking the chair” we wouldn’t be having this conversation. This is my real guess…that people around here tend to be anti-corporate. Its sort of a shame, there is a hidden wealth of corporate knowledge on this board, but those of us that have it don’t tend to stay fairly closeted (the biggest exception is probably msmith - who’s corporate knowledge is fairly specific to the type of East Coast management consulting he has done - but he’s good when it comes to those specific topics). I mean, the issue started as people didn’t understand the term “direct report” - but turned into a conversation about how the term was dehumanizing and that there were warmer and fuzzier terms to use. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962/86 "2014-03-18T03:49:53Z")
Given that this thread is no longer about board policy or the rules, but rather people disagreeing about people’s behavior and continuing to snipe at those on the other side of the question, I’m going to close it. I suggest that those who wish to continue to duke it out start a new thread in the Pit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-jargon-when-posting-questions/683962.md?page=4)