A new website urges us to say lessons when we mean lessons, instead of saying learnings. Say no! to learnings is the site . . . George Orwell made a similar point in “Politics and the English Language” back in the day.
Back in the day is a lazy way of saying in 1946. Orwell was pretty sure the way we say things matters.
Here are some reasons to say learnings:
It’s the cool new jargon in your profession and who doesn’t want to be cool?
Jargon saves time — jargon appears to be clear and meaningful, even if it’s just a single word. Might not be, but why be picky?
Maybe I like saying new lingo over and over as a form of shorthand rather than explaining things in sentences. Who cares if the other person can’t read shorthand.
New lingo feels good, it kind of tingles, and feeling good is easier than thinking clearly.
New words seem to have new meanings. It’s mean of a person to suggest that they may not.
Saying old or new jargon establishes a person as an insider.
Saying jargon establishes that person over there with the quizzical look as an outsider.
Holding public conversations in only one group’s jargon puts the world on notice that anybody else’s ways of thinking and talking aren’t needed to address the current problem. Experts tend to get in the habit of thinking this way. “So-and-so couldn’t possibly think about this issue clearly without a graduate degree in my field . . .”
“Yes, it’s true that some things are hard to discuss clearly without specialized language, but it’s not a good use of an insider’s time to teach that language to you, oh fellow citizens.”
Power moves through institutions and through entitled individuals who speak the right language. People wear their language like a credential, a badge. They direct traffic in the world through the pathways established by their language. Not your language. They may or may not have thought clearly or honorably about this. Nobody may have figured out how to hold them to account as well. To force them to try to speak clearly and honorably.