Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Dec 2014)
BUSINESS ENGLISH OUTSIDE THE BOX. BUSINESS JARGON AND ABBREVIATIONS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Abstract
Business English is commonly understood language, yet Harvard Business Review called business jargon “The Silent Killer of Big Companies”. As we all have been taught in school, we are aware of the fact that in communication we must comply with linguistic rules so that our message gets across succinctly. Yet, there is one place where all these rules can be omitted (at least in the recent decades): the corporate office. Here, one can use euphemisms and clichés, can capitalize any word that is considered important, the passive voice is used wherever possible and abbreviations occur in every sentence. The worst part is that all of these linguistic enormities are carried out deliberately. The purpose of this paper is to analyse to what extent business jargon and abbreviations have affected business communication (which most of the time, it is filled with opaque language to mask different activities and operations) and the reasons for which these linguistic phenomena have become so successful in the present. One of the reasons for the research is that in business English, jargon can be annoying because it overcomplicates. It is frequently unnecessary and it can transform a simple idea or instruction into something very confusing. It is true that every field has its jargon. Education, journalism, law, politics, medicine, urban planning – no filed is immune. Yet, it seems that business jargon has been described as “the most annoying”. Another reason is that jargon tends to be elitist. Those who do not understand the terms feel confused and uncertain. The paper starts with defining these two concepts, business jargon and abbreviations, and then it attempts to explain the “unusual” pervasion of these, both in business communication and in everyday communication. For this, the paper includes a list with the most common business jargon and abbreviations. In this view, the authors have accessed different economic blogs and specialty journals. Then, it continues with the presentation of the results of a survey which was applied to Economics students regarding the extent to which communication, with emphasis on business communication, is affected by the use of business jargon and abbreviations.
