jar|gon

jar|gon¹ «JAHR guhn, -gon», noun, verb.

–n.

1. confused, meaningless talk or writing; gibberish: »

Some of the contributions…are so badly written, so muddled and full of jargon, that an editorial attempt to reduce the chaos and translate into English is just not worth while (Science News).

2. a language that is not understood: »

the jargon of foreigners.

3. talk containing a mixture of languages, such as pidgin English.

4. the language of a special group, profession, or activity; lingo. Doctors, actors, and sailors have jargons. »

surfing jargon.

SYNONYM(S): cant, argot, slang.

5. = chatter. (Cf. ↑chatter)

–v.i.

1. to talk jargon: »

away, and jargon no more in that manner (Thomas Carlyle).

2. to chatter.

╂[< Old French jargon, probably ultimately imitative]

Usage Jargon is commonly used to refer to any confused or unintelligible speech or writing: »

He spoke such a jargon I couldn't make head or tail of what he said.

Among linguists, jargon is a technical word for a dialect composed of the mixture of two or more languages, such as the Chinook jargon of the Pacific Northwest and the Chinese-English jargon, pidgin English.

jar|gon² «JAHR gon», noun.

a colorless or smoky variety of the mineral zircon, found in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Also, jargoon.

╂[< Middle French jargon < Italian giargone, perhaps < Portuguese zarcão < Arabic zarqūn < Persian zargun. Compare etym. under zircon.]