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In an opinion piece on Huffington Post, Colleen Glenney Boggs, associate professor of English and women’s and gender studies, discusses the power of jargon to communicate, irritate, or obfuscate.

“Like the emperor’s new clothes, jargon is a rhetorical disguise,” she writes. “Tinged with elitism and posturing, it asks us to suspend our better judgment. Ultimately, we can see through such pretentiousness. … But jargon doesn’t deserve its bad reputation for being exclusive, meaningless, and snooty—though it can be all these things. At its best, jargon is a meaningful way of communicating important information, building communities, and enjoying the challenges of writing.”

Read the full story published 11/27/12 on Huffington Post.