Using Terminology and Jargon Effectively

In our industry, it’s inevitable that we will use some terminology and jargon. As authors, you are addressing people who generally understand many of the technical concepts that you are writing about. It makes sense to use standard terminology.

However, it’s very important to take a few simple steps to ensure that your use of terminology and jargon is effective.

1. Define your terms. If you’re using a term in a limited or unusual way, or if you aren’t certain that all of your audience will know exactly what the term means, offer a short definition within the text the first time the term appears.

2. Use the exact same term each time you use it or, if you shorten the term, be certain that the shortened term is very like the full term. For example, if you refer to a laser survey device, you could shorten it to laser device or laser survey, but you should not also refer to it as a laser guidance system.

3. Don’t use terms that mean different things interchangeably. We often make this mistake when dealing with a broad category and a more discrete category. For example, if you are writing about both a two-pass bolted and gasketed lining and a two-pass expandable segment lining, you will need to distinguish between the type of lining each time you mention the lining, as two-pass alone is not specific enough.

Filed under: Word Choice, Writing in Engineering

Simplify!

I’ve said it a million times, but I’m gonna keep saying it. It’s very, very important to keep our writing simple, clear, and fluff-free. I include myself in this reminder, because I need to be reminded, too.

Some words in example from Franklin D. Roosevelt by way of William Zinsser, author of the legendary On Writing Well.

“… Franklin D. Roosevelt when he tried to convert into English his own government’s memos, such as this blackout order of 1942:

Such preparations shall be made as will completely obscure all Federal buildings and non-Federal buildings occupied by the Federal government during an air raid for any period of time from visibility by reason of internal or external illumination.

‘Tell them,’ Roosevelt said, ‘that in buildings where they have to keep the work going to put something across the windows.”  (Zinsser, 1998)

Filed under: Wordiness, Writing

Due to the Fact that, In Order to, Because of the Fact that, etc.

If you are looking for ways to make your writing more concise (and I hope you are), watch out for “bulky” phrases that add unnecessary words to your sentences. Below, a table of some commonly used bulky phrases and potentially better options. There may be some cases in which the bulkier phrase sounds better, and that’s okay.

I know it’s tempting to choose these phrases to add “variety” to your writing. That isn’t necessary. You can reuse words like because, to, and so quite often before they will feel repetitive to your reader.

Because of the fact that	Because
In the event that	If
Due to the fact that	Due to, because, since
In order to	To
In order that	So, so that
For the reason that	Because
As of now	Now, currently
As a result of	Because

Filed under: Wordiness, Writing

Winner!

Thanks to all who participated in the challenge. Our winner is Mike McKenna. His rewrite was concise, vivid, and addressed the two major problems (capitalization of “steel fibers” and problems with parallel structure in the bulleted list). Here it is:

Many manufacturers are turning to steel fibers as the preferred reinforcement for precast concrete segments. When compared to traditional re-bar cages, steel fibers provide the following benefits:

• Labor costs are reduced by eliminating re-bar.
• Fewer segments per batch are damaged during manufacturing and transportation.
• Cracks due to temporary loads during installation are minimized.

Filed under: Find the Error Challenges

Challenge, Day 2

Thanks to Grace for a solid rewrite … anyone else want to give it a try?

Filed under: Uncategorized

Challenge Day!

We’re playing for another Starbucks card (it can be mailed!) …

Today’s challenge is to rewrite the following short paragraph. The best rewrite wins. Don’t agonize over this one; it’s not brain surgery. Your hint is the “Lisa’s Pet Peeves” category of the site (see list at right).

Many segment manufactures are turning to Steel Fibers as the preferred reinforcement method. This is because use of Steel Fiber concrete in the manufacturing process results in the following benefits, when compared to traditional reinforcement cages:

• Labor costs are lower(no cage assembly);
• Lower reject/damage ratios: that is fewer segments for a given batch cycle are damaged during manufacturing and transportation;
• Crack widths of the installed product (installation often results in cracking due to temporary loads);

P.S. to the author of this passage: Don’t worry, this wasn’t what you wrote.

Filed under: Find the Error Challenges

Read Me!

This article is titled “Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who Don’t Don’t Want to Work at Writing.” Doesn’t that sound like you? And me? And everyone? Check it out.

Filed under: Writing

A New Look! New Features!

Hopefully you noticed the new look of the writing tips blog. The new design emphasizes the tools that I’m trying to consolidate in one place for your use.

In the first column are the most recent posts. In the second column are categories that I’ve applied to all the posts on the site. Now, you can look under the “categories” link and find posts that answer your writing questions. Of course, if you have a question that isn’t addressed here, email it to me and I will gladly respond and post. 

The third column contains links to sites that I believe you’ll find useful. Please send me suggestions if you have links you would like to share.

The last column is an archive and some other miscellaneous stuff that WordPress sticks up that I have no control over!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Pet Peeve

I try to avoid using the writing tips as a way to put an end to things that personally annoy me, but today I can’t resist!

There is almost never a reason to use the word upon as a substitute for on. We aren’t writing poetry, and therefore we aren’t concerned about rhythm and meter, so why would we use this unnecessary and pompous-sounding substitute?! Let’s not.

Filed under: Lisa's Pet Peeves, Word Choice

Hyphenating with Modifiers

A modifier is a word or phrase that gives additional information about another word or phrase. A better definition, from the University of Ottawa, is:  “A modifier can be an adjective, an adverb, or a phrase or clause acting as an adjective or adverb In every case, the basic principle is the same: the modifier adds information to another element in the sentence.”

I notice that many people become confused about hyphenating compound modifiers. Consider these examples:

Some agencies allow after-the-fact changes.

They made the change after the fact.

The book was published via on-demand printing.

The book was published on demand.

When the phrases in question (after the fact and on demand) are used as modifiers (giving more information about the change and the printing) they are hyphenated. When they are not used as modifiers, they don’t need to be hyphenated.

Filed under: Hyphens, Punctuation