The Two Masks of Jargon

Nothing exposes your blind spots faster than collaborating on high-stakes text. A few months ago, a lawyer friend and I decided to team up for a joint project application. We compiled our credentials, and I volunteered to take the first pass at framing our shared cover letter.

When I handed over the draft, she didn’t read it with a nod—she read it with a grin.

“It sounds like a marketing document,” she observed, “not an introduction of actual skills and competencies.”

My immediate reaction was a flash of perplexed defensiveness. I’m a strategic editor. I know language. I was absolutely certain I had focused clearly on our strengths without embellishing them.

I had. But corporate speak had quietly snuck in anyway. To her—reading with the sharp, forensic eye of a lawyer—any vague, complex phrasing stood out instantly. She pointed out that instead of building authority, that kind of language could very well create doubt. It makes a sophisticated reader wonder what you are trying to hide behind the fluff. Even when the “fluff” reads well.

She was entirely right. We stripped the defensive padding, focused on direct evidence, and the final draft was rock solid.

The insight was the real bonus, though.

Corporate speak doesn’t get categorized as ‘Jargon’ because it lacks technical data.

But it operates exactly the same way.

We rarely categorize corporate speak as “jargon” because it lacks technical data. But it operates exactly the same way. The truth is, jargon wears two completely different masks:

Domain Jargon: This is industry-specific shorthand (containerized microservices, amortization structures). It has actual, precise meaning to the engineering or financial “in-group.” When leaked to external buyers, it is alienating—but it is a visible blind spot. It is easy to spot, easy to be self-aware of, and easy to fix.

Corporate Speak: This is the insidious twin. It is the language of buzzwords (leveraging synergies, driving holistic transformation, optimizing touchpoints). It sounds like adding value, but it rarely has any real meaning.

We routinely make fun of corporate speak in memes, yet we use less offending variations of it when we want to look sophisticated. While domain jargon alienates through technical complexity, corporate speak normalizes a culture of empty fluff. It tricks us into substituting complex, vague words where a simple one would do the job better.

We don’t use it because we are lazy; we use it because we are defensive or because we want to play it safe and blend in with the crowd. It acts as a linguistic fortress that protects us from having to say something simple, concrete, and highly accountable.

Corporate speak normalizes a culture of empty fluff.

But ask yourself this: Does your target audience need a glossary on hand to read your materials? Will a sophisticated stakeholder or buyer see right through your adjectives? If so, congratulations! Your fortress has become your cage.

Strategic editing isn’t about minimizing your value or dumbing down the message. It’s an act of democratization. By dismantling the corporate speak fortress, you give your actual innovation room to breathe. And you give your audience a reason to believe you.