Business Jargon's Dual Role and English's Evolving Global Dominance

Key Quotes

"As a linguist I think about jargon as the words or the lexicon that is specific to a profession or a pastime and we know that when groups of people get together and are involved in a shared enterprise that they will often create and use a set of specialized terms that kind of language can provide you with useful shortcuts it also can create a sense of insiders and outsiders and there are both benefits and drawbacks to that."

Linguist Anne Curzan explains that jargon, while often viewed negatively, serves as specialized language for groups with shared interests. Curzan highlights that this specialized lexicon offers practical shortcuts for communication within the group. However, she also notes that jargon can establish a distinction between those who are "insiders" and those who are "outsiders," which carries both advantages and disadvantages.

"Another place is that people complain about new words a lot wherever those new words are coming from people complain about the new words that are coming out of social media pop culture out of slang and they say young people are ruining the language for hundreds and hundreds of years people have complained about new words that seems to be one of our responses to new words."

Anne Curzan points out that complaints about new words are a recurring historical phenomenon. Curzan observes that people often express disapproval of new vocabulary emerging from sources like social media and slang, attributing this to younger generations "ruining the language." This pattern of reacting negatively to linguistic innovation has persisted for centuries.

"I myself do not like the word impactful which people often see as business jargon yeah i don't like it i actually know as a linguist there is no good reason for me not to like it it is a very well constructed word it's just like hopeful and joyful mindful impactful there's absolutely nothing wrong with it for some reason i don't like it but i will get over it and in fact just the other day i was in the middle of saying something and i was saying that change is going to be very and i realized i was headed straight for the word impactful and i thought oh no so what did you say i i paused and i said significant but i thought it's coming into my vocabulary too."

Anne Curzan shares her personal dislike for the word "impactful," a term often considered business jargon. Curzan, as a linguist, acknowledges that there is no objective linguistic basis for her aversion, as it is a well-formed word. She illustrates how ingrained such preferences can be by recounting a moment where she consciously avoided using "impactful" in favor of "significant," yet recognized the word's increasing presence in her own vocabulary.

"Just from an economic perspective there's a lot of value locked up in language and certainly in business that's something to keep in mind when you're in a workplace you you want to understand these words and not necessarily think of them as as bad things that you want to avoid or that people are making themselves look ridiculous because there is value kind of locked up behind that on the other hand managers probably don't want to have those barriers in the workplace like there's a lot of value if you're a manager to try to try to lower those barriers and um use clearer more universal language for everybody so that's people are able to work with each other better."

Anne Curzan suggests that language, particularly in a business context, holds significant value that should be recognized. Curzan advises that understanding the specialized terms used in a workplace is important, rather than dismissing them as inherently negative or indicative of foolishness, as there is often underlying meaning. Conversely, Curzan notes that managers should aim to reduce such linguistic barriers to foster better collaboration among employees by using more universally understood language.

"I think there are a couple of important points you're making there the first is that when you enter a new workplace you're certainly needing to learn the jargon but you're also needing to learn other ways in which the language of that workplace works politeness conventions how colloquial or formal is the language both spoken and written how do people send emails do people text how do all of that is going to be different and is something we're learning as speakers and writers in addition to the jargon when we're in a workplace."

Anne Curzan emphasizes that adapting to a new workplace involves more than just learning jargon. Curzan explains that newcomers must also understand the broader linguistic norms of the environment, such as politeness conventions and the level of formality in spoken and written communication. She points out that these aspects of language use, including communication methods like email and texting, are learned alongside specialized terminology.

"Particularly for people who are working in more international contexts is to realize that some of the metaphors and idioms that we can take for granted as american english speakers are not going to be transparent for speakers of other varieties of english um of english or who have not grown up in american culture and i'm thinking here for example of sports metaphors."

Anne Curzan highlights a critical consideration for those working internationally: the potential lack of understanding of American English metaphors and idioms by non-native speakers. Curzan uses sports metaphors as an example of language that might be readily understood by American English speakers but not by individuals from different cultural backgrounds or those who speak other varieties of English. She stresses that these expressions may not be transparent to a global audience.

"Languages become powerful international languages not for linguistic reasons it has nothing to do with the structure of english it's about social political and economic power and people will learn the language they need to learn to have access to that power and at the moment that is english and at the moment that is primarily british and american english."

Anne Curzan explains that the dominance of a language as an international medium is not due to its linguistic features but rather its association with social, political, and economic power. Curzan states that individuals learn languages that grant them access to this power, which currently makes English, particularly British and American English, the prevalent choice. She asserts that the spread of a language is driven by external factors of influence, not inherent linguistic superiority.

"The majority of english speakers are not around the world are not native speakers which i think is the first time that's ever happened in world history right that more speakers of a language are actually non native speakers that is absolutely true."

Anne Curzan points out a significant historical development regarding the English language: the majority of its speakers worldwide are non-native speakers. Curzan confirms that this phenomenon, where non-native speakers outnumber native speakers, is unprecedented in world history. This demographic shift underscores the global reach and varied usage of English.