here's your monthly (/ yearly) reminder to use simple language wherever possible.
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this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2026
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Jargon is great when the word used is the most accurate word for that thing, describing why it exists and what its purpose is.
Jargon is terrible when they start using that as a synonym for a simpler word, and want to sound busy and smart
Respect synonym of simpler words, nothing more hilarious as the German "Amtssprache".
nicht lebende Einfriedung (non-living enclosure) = Zaun (fence)
raumübergreifendes Großgrün (large vegetation that extends spatially) = Baum (tree)
Lautraum (soundspace) = Diskothek
Grundstücksentwässerungsanlage (Land drainage system) = Regenrinne (gutter)
Einachsiger Dreiseitenkipper (Single-axle three-sided tipper) = Schubkarre (wheelbarrow)
Personenvereinzelungsanlage (Personal isolation facility) = Drehkreuz (turnable)
Grüngutsammelplatz (Green goods collection point) = Komposthaufen (compost heap)
Bedarfsgesteuerte Fußgängerfurt (Demand-controlled pedestrian crossing) = Ampel (pedestrian traffic light)
Lebensberechtigungsbescheinigung (Certificate of eligibility for life) = Stammbuch (family tree)
these are hilarious. i just don't get the last one. "Lebensberechtigungsbescheinigung"? when would you use that?
You need it when you request an ID card or Passport, it's a birth certificate or family book.
ooh yeah ok
Reading a German journal must be exhausting
Not so if you know German, but the reading is slower as normal. German words are often very long, but only because it is a compound word, which in other lenguages need a whole sentence to say the same. The advantage is that it is very easy to invent new words in German which everybody understand, but this is also used often used in legal jargon in an absurd and not needed way. German is a very flexible language with not so much grammatic, the most difficult are the articles. A very precise and uniform pronunciation of the letters in the alphabet used in a word (same as in Spanish), not so in English or French, where letters have different phonetics in different words.
i think the legal speak is actually charming, somehow. it's often much more precise than what we would say in our everday-language. kinda like programming, very precise. but i guess it can be really challenging for somebody who doesn't have a lot of experience with the german language yet.
Yeah, but as said it's often not really needed, everybody knows what is a tree or a fence, there isn't any need to use an absurd wordmonster which isn't more precise, only fucking up the people in documents.