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Don't be a writing tutor

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    #26
    Don't be a writing tutor

    I should perhaps enlarge on that.

    It's one thing to claim that a particular arcane vocabulary exists mainly to baffle and blind, and another to say that something isn't worth studying systematically. Indeed, it's precisely because an arcane vocabulary looks like the outcome of systematic study, without necessarily requiring it, that we need to be on our guard.

    Without doubt, there are some things that aren't worth studying systematically, and you don't need to be a Platonist to think so (or we're all Platonists). Whether or not management is one of them (which is a complicated question having to do with what we value and why), that isn't what I was on about.

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      #27
      Don't be a writing tutor

      For me, management is more a set of skills than a set of knowledge (though there is some knowledge involved). So it's not quite the same anyway as something you might "study systematically"

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        #28
        Don't be a writing tutor

        I actually think that the "invention" and evolution of the mumbo-jumbo is worthy of "systematic study", with the (likely vain) hope that measures could be taken to eliminate it.

        My experience with this crap has been that most of the people who sprout it are completely unable to answer the obvious first question:

        What can you possibly mean by that?

        and that virtually all of those who manage to navigate that hurdle fail at the next:

        Then why are you using such ridiculous verbiage?

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          #29
          Don't be a writing tutor

          Unfortunately, I edit the work of some reporters who supposedly have up to 25 years of experience in the field who cannot write clearly.

          I don't think the problem with a lot of that "management speak" is the jargon, per se. Every field has terms and words that aren't familiar to people outside of it. Jargon can often aid good writing by allowing the writer to be very precise with just a word or two. In the examples give, that's not what I see. I see a lot of what I call "empty" words that don't add any meaning to the sentence, a lot of imprecision and vagueness and a lot of long, hard to "digest" sentences. That's not a jargon problem. That's just plain, old-fashioned bad writing.

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            #30
            Don't be a writing tutor

            Can't jargon be jargon and empty at the same time?

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              #31
              Don't be a writing tutor

              Yes, but not all jargon is empty and not all bullshit, empty writing is jargon.

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                #32
                Don't be a writing tutor

                You should try bureaucratic Italian..Most Italians haven't got a clue what some forms they have to fill mean, the vocabulary is quite simply baffling and you need a big thesaurus to help you understand just what the word means nevermind the overall meaning.

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                  #33
                  Don't be a writing tutor

                  Word.

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                    #34
                    Don't be a writing tutor

                    1890 wrote:
                    You should try bureaucratic Italian..Most Italians haven't got a clue what some forms they have to fill mean, the vocabulary is quite simply baffling and you need a big thesaurus to help you understand just what the word means nevermind the overall meaning.
                    I've noticed they seem to like using that kind of English, too. Sounds very funny.

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                      #35
                      Don't be a writing tutor

                      Welcome to my life.

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                        #36
                        Don't be a writing tutor

                        I see, Wyatt. Sorry for misunderstanding- even if I got Plato and the Bodleian in.

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