[Python-ideas] Does jargon make learning more difficult?

[Steve Barnes]

On 14/08/2018 20:42, Michael Selik wrote:
> 
> Good comparisons can be found in other fields:
> * Driving -- brakes vs stoppers
> * Sailing -- starboard vs right-side
> * Medicine -- postprandial vs after-meal
> * Biology -- dinosaur vs direlizard
> 
While NOT wanting to start another fight I feel that I must put my 
pedant hat on & point out that the above highlights why domain specific 
words are used and their specificity actually highlights important 
concepts, i.e.:

  * Brakes are used to apply breaking, (i.e. to slow the vehicle, 
possibly to a stop), while stoppers STOP something.
  * Starboard = to the right when facing the bow (front of the vessel) 
not "my right", "your right" or "their right" (which depends on which 
way you, I & they are facing).
  * postprandial = after Lunch (not after eating any meal or after a snack).
  * A dinosaur is specifically an extinct terrible (formerly considered) 
lizard where as a Gila Monster is definitely a scary & dangerous (dire) 
lizard.

In all of these cases there is a specificity to the word used that is 
missing from the alternative offered that will, hopefully, be raised by 
the use of that word. Unfortunately many people, when trying to explain 
what the word means fail to highlight where it is different (the number 
of times that I have heard people "explain" port and starboard as left 
and right without mentioning the word bow or forward is countless).

Using a slightly unfamiliar word can cause people to ask, or think 
about, why this is different & what the difference is while also drawing 
a parallel that can help the user/student to understand & remember the 
concept.

Also, picking a label for something, and using it consistently, can 
vastly simplify things like manual searches (or on-line searches).

The English language has, historically, always borrowed, co-opted and 
sometimes perverted words from other languages to allow distinct 
concepts to be expressed concisely - which I personally, (admittedly as 
a native speaker), find rather useful.

-- 
Steve (Gadget) Barnes
Any opinions in this message are my personal opinions and do not reflect 
those of my employer.

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