Might also help if you read back what you wrote before posting it, which you obviously haven't :

"Worse still is when a explanation relies of the use of an incorrect term." - hmmm this doesn't sound right to me, perhaps you meant, "Worse still is when AN explanation relies ON the use of an incorrect term."

"Yes, building glossaries and terminology dictionaries is boring but without a common dialect we might as be talking english at a martian." - think you may be missing a 'well' in there ;)

Now Kev, i'm sure you're going to now call me a pedantic nit-picking twat, or a moron, as you have done a few other people who have commented on previous posts, however, i'm actually making a point in the above, not in any attempt to nit pick or to be pedantic.

The point being is simple, *you* may not have a long attention span in all cases, however, my attention span is fair in most cases, bu lessened when i find it hard to follow a document due to poor english. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those who will attempt to disagree with the points being made within a document, simply because of spelling mistakes, no thats not what i'm saying. In my case, if it's hard going reading a document, because the language actually doesn't flow, ie; i have to read sentences more than once or twice to work out what was meant, due to the flow of language, then my attention span to that document dwindles rapidly. As you know i don't like hard work, and when it comes to it, if a document is hard work to read, i quite quickly don't want to read it. Agreed, you could argue that this is a personal blog, and I dont have to read it if i dont wish to, but, the point still stands.

Another point i have with what is written in your post, 'More than that, who determines what's "simple enough"', it appears that you would suppose *you* do. I'm afraid that would be a hugely bad assumption to be making on your part. I think that you would find that the sensible answer to this would infact be that that decision would be made by those participating in any given conversation. The deciding factor as to what level of language a conversation would follow(ie; high level tech terms, or lower level layman terms, somewhere in between) would be the lowest level of the participants. What's the point in having a conversation at all, if the only person who understands what is being said is you ? Or what's the point in having a conversation with a group of people, when only a fraction have a clue what you are talking about ? I guess what i'm saying is, as a participant in a conversation, you need to guage the people you are talking to, and adjust your approach accordingly.

Which kind of brings me to addressing "we could use two tonnes of simple English in all cases but we do need to finish within our lifetimes." The answer to that one is simple, I'd rather spend a year taking time to understand an idea, in low level layman's terms, than a lifetime of you attempting to explain to me in your high level terms which i will never understand ;)

Yes i agree, tech terms are great, when a large majority of your audience understands you, and are agreed on the meaning of those terms. But, learning to adapt your conversational approach to those around you(in particular your audience), is, judging by your post, still a skill and a discipline you need to learn. You *may* even find a small amount of additional productivity coming out of it to !(although i already know your capability, and already know you are probably one of the most productive people out there)

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K

Kev: Hit a nerve perhaps? See the disclaimer. Thanks for the typo check tho.

Thought given the amount of time you took you deserved a proper reply:

""Worse still is when a explanation relies of the use of an incorrect term." - hmmm this doesn't sound right to me, perhaps you meant, "Worse still is when AN explanation relies ON the use of an incorrect term."

Wow. You really did read it didn't you? I'm not sure picking on my poor typing and/or english skills really helps your point though.

", bu lessened when i find it hard to follow a document due to poor english."

I particularly enjoyed this bit. Got to love typo finding.

"More than that, who determines what's "simple enough"', it appears that you would suppose *you* do"

I'm afraid thats always going to be the case on "my blog". Maybe you should take your own advice and study the context of the text?

I don't think anyone claimed that a conversation should only be understood by the person using the technical term, infact didn't I mention you'd be a moron to not explain things if they weren't understoood?

"I'd rather spend a year taking time to understand an idea, in low level layman's terms, than a lifetime of you attempting to explain to me in your high level terms which i will never understand ;)"

Oh, I see, now you get to decide what's simple enough? So if we don't understand the English that you use, you're happy to speak more simply? Or if someone can't grasp what you're talking about because you're not using terms they understand - you're happy to find out what those terms are? As you know, we've talked about technical things plenty of times IRL, does this mean you've never understood anything I've said? I'd have hoped you would have mentioned it ;)

"But, learning to adapt your conversational approach to those around you(in particular your audience), is, judging by your post, still a skill and a discipline you need to learn."

Judging by the tone of your reply I'd suspect you've pre-judged me as part of group 3 (which of course is fine), so I'm guessing you'd need to work on coping with a different conversational approach to the one you're used to at least as much as me. With respect, you have no idea who my audience here are, I know this since I don't either.

For reference, I never ever read back what I've posted before posting. Most of the time this would stop me posting at all due to guilt, fear or second thoughts. Same with the comment replies, so feel free to find fault again.

Wow!!! My attention span certainly wasn't enough to get to the end of this discussion! I need a breath of fresh air!