From: gaf@uucs1.UUCP (gaf)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Why all the jargon?
Message-ID: <551@uucs1.UUCP>
Date: 26 Jul 91 23:50:00 GMT
Reply-To: gaf@uucs1.UUCP (Guy Finney)
Distribution: alt.religion.scientology
Organization: UUCS inc., Phoenix, Az
Lines: 29

Dick Eastin writes (on another subject):
>
>If you call, be tolerant of the answer, as part of it may not
>make sense if some argot (jargon) is used.

This is something that baffles me.  Why use jargon when it isn't
necessary?  Why have jargon at all?  Doesn't that just make it harder for
someone to understand what's being said, and therefore less likely to
join up?  If you have something to say, especially something important,
shouldn't you make every effort to communicate your thoughts as clearly
as possible so your listeners will get the message you intend?

Or is that the point?  Is the message that this is an exclusive club
(for lack of a better word), and knowing the jargon is one way of
separating the "ins" from the "outs"?  Teenagers do this all the time.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course.  It's a tried and true marketing
practice to make the product appealing by creating an aura of exclusivity
about it.  Glamour sells, and making people feel left out is the magetism
which draws them in.  Some of the TV evangelists use this technique,
especially the ones who talk in tongues and claim to heal people. 

So, why the jargon?  I'm interested in it from an intellectual standpoint,
as an observer of how organizations (businesses, religions, street gangs, etc)
market their "product".
-- 
Guy Finney					It's that feeling of deja-vu
UUCS inc.   Phoenix, Az				all over again.
ncar!noao!asuvax!hrc!uucs1!gaf	sun!sunburn!gtx!uucs1!gaf