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Friday, November 18, 2011

Blog post comment: Translating the Jargon

Today's challenge:


A comment as a blog post. Pick someone else’s post (from the past or from today) and write a comment to them. Write that comment as your blog post for today. Link back to them to let them know you were inspired.
I responded to tmana's post on being a "polyglot". I hope I am not misstating her point: that those of us who are health activists translate the jargon of the various medical trades to patients and to others in other related trades.



As a city planner, I did something of the same thing: "translated" laws to the people who used them. Even more importantly, I often had the chance to write those laws, and did so, to the extent possible, in plain English. I think it's important to leave the jargon behind, no matter how fond of it you are, and speak in clear English. If you cannot explain a situation in plain English I believe that you do not fully understand it yourself.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

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