<P> Jargon is a type of language that is used in a particular context and may not be well understood outside that context . The context is usually a particular occupation (that is, a certain trade, profession, or academic field), but any ingroup can have jargon . The main trait that distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is special vocabulary--including some words specific to it, and often different senses or meanings of words, that outgroups would tend to take in another sense;--therefore misunderstanding that communication attempt . Jargon is thus "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group". Most jargon is technical terminology, involving terms of art or industry terms, with particular meaning within a specific industry . A main driving force in the creation of technical jargon is precision and efficiency of communication when a discussion must easily range from general themes to specific, finely differentiated details without circumlocution . A side - effect of this is a higher threshold for comprehensibility, which is usually accepted as a trade - off but is sometimes even used as a means of social exclusion (reinforcing ingroup - outgroup barriers) or social aspiration (when intended as a way of showing off). </P> <P> The philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac observed in 1782 that "every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas". As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment, he continued: "It seems that one ought to begin by composing this language, but people begin by speaking and writing, and the language remains to be composed ." </P>

Is slang that is specific to a particular group