Of course, where there is genuine innovation, sometimes new terms are needed to precisely express the meaning of something, but this is relatively rare. Too often jargon clouds the intended meaning, where plain speaking would better express what is meant.

We should also write a post on being cautious with acronyms: acronyms are prone to being ambiguous, and often demand more cognitive effort to read than the equivalent long form – when we read we recognise the shapes of words rather than reading each letter. Acronyms prevent this, and we have to reconstruct or recall the meaning each time we encounter the acronym. Related to this, full-caps text is harder to reader because the word shapes are not distinctive.

After inviting a few people, I added a definition to the invites and then to the program.

However, I’m disappointed that the LGA are banning the word “stakeholders”. It reminds me of both Buffy the vampire slayer and someone building a fence in a windy field.

-Ella