An opinion article on work lexis outside of the workplace for The Guardian
Work, Work, Work
We all have a specialist field whether that's law or catering we use specialist language so often we may use that specialist terminology at home or when out with friends, is this a good or bad thing?As a conservationist I am surrounded by scientific and environmental terminology on a daily basis. This can often lead to me using terms in general conversations forgetting that not everyone I know understands the same language I do (this can often be referred to as a lexical field).
When in conversation I often find that I flout the maxim quantity according to a theorist named Grice's maxims for the theory on how conversation works. The maxim quantity is about whether a participant in conversation gives too little or too much information. In my case I give too much as I go into depth using terminology others who don't work in the area of conservation may not understand, for example when talking about forests or forestry I may talk about coppicing and pollarding, these are techniques used in cycles to increase biodiversity and soil. This can often mean I have small amounts of input from others in these types of conversation making it a very unequal conversation. This type of conversation often means the power is un balanced, with me being the more powerful participant and the other participant the less powerful.
Effective voice with a nice tone. Work on hooking the audience - would you want to read something called 'work, work, work'? Your strapline (is it a strapline?) uses the term "specialist" three times - was that for effect? Bring in the idea that linguistic theories might hold the key to understanding why work-talk can be such a turn-off and how to avoid this. That would let you explore for-and-against theories (denigrating the ones that go against your view) and offer solutions, which are both to-band skills.
ReplyDelete