Dan, I spent 30 years in publishing as a writer, editor and vice president (google "Eric Jorgensen" for a few books). Jargon is an important part of communication in the publishing industry. No doubt you have run into sigs, folios, lead (the metal, as in spacing) and more colorful terms in your writing career. Everyone "in the know" in publishing knows what "12 points of lead" means. Why don't they say "0.167 inches of spacing between lines"? Because it is meaningless to a group that knows the jargon. It is not well-defined, but in the context of the group it carries full meaning. QRM, QRN, Hi, How copy?, all carry full meaning in the context of ham radio QSOs (See? There's another that instantly conveyed to you and any other ham what I meant).
Furthermore, if someone doesn't want to use the jargon and slang, concrete ways of participating in and embracing the ham radio culture, then why would we want them in the group at all!? If hearing it alienates them and turns them away, so be it. A strong sense of community and culture is what has differentiated hams as a group for a very long time. Otherwise we are just a bunch of electronic hobbyists. We don't WANT everyone to be a ham. The recent interview with Wayne Burdick in a Northern California (Santa Cruz, I think), newspaper was linked on the reflector a few weeks ago. The writer of this excellent article referred to hams being "close-knit and enthusiastic" as a group. Our culture and community binds us. Jargon is an integral part of this process. Eric KE6US -----Original Message----- From: Dan Romanchik [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 11:12 AM To: EricJ Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Use of Abbreviations (OT?) Quite the contrary. Jargon, by its very nature, is not well-defined. What you think you mean when you use some jargon is often not what the person listening receives. That's why nearly every writing book you will read discourages its use. You think you're communicating, but the message isn't getting through. You say that if someone doesn't want to use jargon they are distancing themselves from the group. In reality, it works the other way. The use of jargon alienates and turns away those who are not "in the know." I don't think we want to be doing that. Best regards, Dan KB6NU _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
