[notarobot123]

I think this is the same with programming too. Professionals trust the traditions they have been inducted into and replicate its conventions encouraging novices to do the same. It quickly becomes _the_ way to do it.

More cynically, you could see this as professionals protecting preserving their position in society as practitioners of a magic that would be commonplace if translated into the vernacular of the laity.

[cbfrench]

Honestly, it’s probably a little of both. We’re all embedded in various communicative matrices, all of which have conventions to which we generally adhere because it’s how we were taught, it’s understandable by others (at least other guild members), and it makes communicating more efficient. There’s also a protective mindset to keep the uninitiated from peering too deeply into the mysteries—and thus rendering the work you do much less valuable.

This same study could have been conducted on medical writing and probably arrived at the same conclusions, except medical writing is probably even more jargon-laden than legalese, so I’m not sure a group of layfolk could produce a convincing parody of it.

In any event, I have the feeling this study could have been avoided by a trip across the quad to talk to someone in the English dept.

[Two4]

I use q as my iterator variable name in my for loop, everyone freaks out. I use j in an inner loop, everyone is fine - because it's all part of the plan.