In Thesaurus.com Do I Trust

Refusing to Let Jargon Kill My Vocabulary

We are gathered here today to witness the union of a handful of words that are now holy to our messaging and will forever be together in every paragraph until rebrand do we part.

If anyone has a reason that these words not be wed, speak now in proper SEO format or forever hold your peace on page 2 of Google Search Results.

Source: FreePik.com

What’s All the Buzz About?

Jargon, lingo, buzzwords...we even have cliche words to reference cliche words.

While there are plenty of arguments against jargon (i.e. this blog post), it does carry value in the marketing world. Using buzzwords is almost essential for SEO, SEM, metadata, semantic search, etc. etc.— all that stuff to get you noticed online.

You’re in-the-know and you want your audience to know that you’re in-the-know⁠—so what better way than using all the latest terminology to show how in-the-know you really are.

The cliche “the pen is mightier than the sword” is more relevant than ever in digital marketing. Slay your online competition with keywords! Use that lingo to get to the top of search results!

So these tiresome words, phrases, and acronyms serve a purpose: nail down somewhat abstract concepts in an industry shorthand that is digestible (but not necessarily understandable) to all. Ta-da! Your messaging framework is ready to spread across the land.

But who’s actually listening?

Literally “Difficult for Others to Understand”

If a tree falls in the forest, but no one’s around, does it actually make a sound?

If a message is received by a wide audience, but no one really understands what it means, does it actually count?

The definition of jargon begs this question.

Jargon: special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Created by Gavin Llewellyn

From made-up words to ambiguous acronyms, this form of language can be more divisive than reassuring to an audience that you’re in-the-know. While readers familiar with industry terminology may see it as a mark of credibility, the curious layman can feel excluded.

Sure, this can refine the likelihood of reaching the prime audience. Pull the ones in that are ready to pull the trigger on a decision by pushing out messaging that spells out your level of expertise. But that exclusion can simultaneously open the competition up to introduce these new concepts to a slew of potential consumers.

It’s important to give some background and integrate answers to the questions that naturally come when nebulous words are used (i.e. “huh? say wha?”) to reach that broader base—if you don’t, you run the risk of getting nods with blank eyes as all your words fly over their heads and that unexplored potential walks away.

Ignorance isn’t bliss when it comes to jargon.

Or take the flipside—too much flashy lingo without real detail or further explanation can drain that credibility in the eyes of more astute, informed readers. And similar to the confusion it instills in novice readers, a jumble of vague industry terms can spark questions for the more seasoned professionals: does this person even know what they’re talking about?

Bottom line: if you rely too heavily on jargon, you run the risk of losing your audience.

If your message ingrains those repeated words and phrases, but all the other words around it fall flat, will anyone keep reading?

Context is King

As both a reader and a writer, if I see the same words used over and over and over again my eyes glaze over. And even if I do make it through the text, I don’t necessarily know what my takeaway is supposed to be. Did I learn something new? Am I spurred to take action? So now what?

When it comes to jargon, content alone is no longer king—the context and connotation surrounding buzzwords and phrases are what rule audiences’ interest.

Surface-level content, even when stuffed with industry lingo, generally covers the basic questions who, what, when, and where—but when buzzwords replace more substantial information, it can leave out the answers to why and how in the messaging. As we found earlier in this post, jargon can actually create more questions than it answers.

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

Adding buzzwords doesn’t make you sound smart, but putting them in the accessible context can give them (and you) the credibility you were going for. Creating content of substance that incorporates jargon can provide the necessary clues for a novice reader to understand and likewise a greater depth of knowledge that a more skilled eye is looking for.

Sidenote: AKA proof you’re not just using fancy words because you’re full of BS.

Words can carry great weight if we use them correctly, and overuse can reduce them to fluff.

The results of today’s abundance of jargon is “almost becoming filler, like 'um' or 'ah’,” explains Robert Half International executive Brett Good in a USA Today interview, but also adds that he doesn’t “see the buzzword craze stopping” either.

And I am partly to blame for that.

In the Context of Eyerolls, is the Word Optimization the New Synergy?

Let me start by saying I love my job and thoroughly enjoy my work. I love writing so much that I am literally writing this blog in the spare time I have off from my job as a writer.

I don’t know what I’m writing…

But my writing and even my speech can fall victim to the jargon bug simply because accurately explaining what a company or organization does is a bit more complex than one simple tagline or even mission statement.

The inspiration for this blog post came from my own real-life experience getting caught in the buzzword bubble:

My company’s office is part of a larger building filled with other similar looking offices. In the elevator one day, I found myself in polite small talk (“Man, is it Friday yet?”) with an occupant from another office. He asked me the standard, “What do you do? What does your company do?” questions and I gave my canned jargon-riddled response that usually lets both of us gracefully end the conversation because neither one of us cares to hear/say more about it.

But this guy gave a short laugh and repeated one of my buzzwords back to me.

“Optimization, huh?” he said sarcastically. “I hear that all the time but what does that actually mean?”

I rattled off a few actual, tactical, more detailed things the company does, but ended my loose explanation by saying, “At least I didn’t say ‘synergy’, right?”

We went our separate ways and I realized that I had to fight the good fight to save my vocabulary from a loveless marriage with jargon. I can’t succumb to just repeating the same convoluted mess of made-up words and indecipherable acronyms. I know there are real answers and information buried in those buzzwords. I shouldn’t shy away from breaking down the harder concepts and finding new ways to explain complexities. I have the experience and buyer-journey knowledge to know when lingo is and isn’t the right fit to incite action. I understand the context of what I’m trying to say and my goal should always be to have my readers understand it too.

My audience deserves better writing. And I owe it to myself to be a better writer.

Yes, our messaging framework filled with industry terminology will always be my sacred texts to write from, but Theasurus.com and conversations with our subject matter experts and consumers give me the real answers to my content-creation prayers.

Til death do us part. Amen.