back to books Re: doublets / langue / traffic

[Carol]

> Obviously, our Sybil is using a nom-de-plume (and a real plume, too).
> 
> Annemehr,
> wondering whether a text full of jargon (New Age or otherwise) poses
editing difficulties for a non-adept

Carol responds:
It depends. Sometimes, a jargon term is defined in the text itself, so
I'll move the definition to the place where the term is first used.
Sometimes, I can find a definintion on the Internet and query whether
it's the right one or just ask the author to define the term for
readers who might be unfamiliar with it. And sometimes, I simply
suggest rephrasing in plain English.

If I know the meaning of the jargon term and jargon isn't necessary to
the work (in the sense of a genuine specialized vocabulary for a
particular field, such as literary analysis or paloeanthropology)
--let's say that a would-be novelist has picked up a jargon phrase
from pop psychology--I can just reword it myself. "He had issues with
his family" becomes "He had conflicts with his family," (I can query
further, asking the author to specify what the conflicts or arguments
were about.) And the author is always free to accept or reject my
suggestions or to ask further questions (within reasonable limits--I
can't spend the next six months being an unpaid consultant!).

It all depends on the context of the jargon term, the purpose of the
book, and the intended audience. Thank goodness for the Internet,
though, since standard dictionaries seldom tell me what I need to know!

Carol, who found a wonderful online style guide for British
manuscripts in the humanities (MHRA) but needs somwthing similar for
the (pseudo)sciences