Yes--and we're getting way off tract here--but, as my
wonderful writing instructor taught me long ago,
"Write to communicate, not to impress."

If your reader has to stop to look up words in order
to understand you, you're most probably not
communicating.  You may be caught up in in the
parlance of your aspect of the trade, but don't let
the lingo-ese get in your way of getting your message
out.

Now, we shouldn't be critiquing the quality of each
other's posts but rather the content of their
messaging.

So here's my suggestion for the next time:  If you
operate in a pretty narrow window, with language that
is oh-so clear in your world, but less apt to be known
by those extraneous to your field, define terms you
think may be knew to the audience in general.

Then we will not have to play the pissy little umbrage
game and can get on with answering your questions or
responding to your needs.



--- Jay Heuman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Stephen et al.:
>
>      Your point is well taken, Stephen.  However,
> you might well ponder
> this question: Does a word only "exist" if Oxford or
> Merriam-Webster
> include it in a dictionary?
>      If so, there are literally thousands of words
> that do not "exist".
> (Also, in some cases, it depends upon the dictionary
> you are using.)
> Slang words/terms develop years, decades, sometimes
> centuries before any
> dictionary will admit it is actually a word/term.
> Sounds like you are
> very much in favor of an organization, like the
> French "Academie
> Francaise", to make rulings concerning the
> legitimacy of language.  Who
> can make rules about how language is used?
>      As I wrote above, your point is well taken.  If
> people expect to be
> understood, they must use the language their desired
> audience will
> understand.  So, as I wrote in my last message, you
> were probably not
> included in the desired audience.  Therefore, the
> real question is: Why
> do you feel you must understand every message?
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Jay Heuman
>
> Stephen wrote:
> > I think my original fontificied verbalizatory
> dataset (comment) is
> being
> > taken to new zenicentric longitudes (heights). My
> only point was that
> > interoperability is not a word in the English
> language. Neither is
> > metadata, and especially metadata vocabularies.
> It's not a matter of
> > "understanding every message", but it is a matter
> of when it
> > is and when it is not necessary to introduce new
> terminology. My Ph.D.
> is in
> > physics. There's gads of jargon in physics, but it
> may all be looked
> up in any
> > standard or scientific dictionary.
> > The phrase "quantum chromodynamics", for example,
> was invented
> > because there was a need to label an entirely new
> phenomenon and
> > associated field of study. There was no choice. I
> still read many
> articles
> > which baffle me, but a quick check in any number
> of reference books
> > clears it all up. I'm afraid "compatibility" and
> "spread sheet" (or
> how
> > about matrix?) will do just fine for many years to
> come. I've been in
> > science long enough now (and museum work to a
> lesser extent) to know
> > if you want to retain the interest and respect of
> the public and your
> > peers, you need to speak concisely and plainly.
> > metaregards,
> > Steve
>
>
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=====
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