Jargon

Part essay, part discursive dictionary, this is an account and critique of the presence of jargon in our culture, speech and literature. It explores the varieties of language coloured by shop-talk, vogue words, 'buzz words', slang, hackneyed phraseology and hard pressed metaphors; the origins of jargon in literary, journalisitc, commercial and technical settings; and changes in useage and attitudes to useage over time. It incorporates a selective and sometimes satirical 'devil's dictionary' of jargon today.