Jargon and Lingo

I know today is Earth Day, but it is also "Administrative Assistants Day".  Remember when it used to be "Secretaries Day"?  In my work as a financial advisor, I have to help people understand financial concepts that are fairly simple, but made to sound complicated by words used by insiders known as "jargon".  Some examples are "dollar cost averaging", "asset allocation" and "diversification".  Human resource directors and others have changed words over time in an effort to respect diversity and be politically correct.  Other changes to words are a result of new uses that happen over time.  Look at a few examples of words that were once used but have been replaced by new words:

Garbage man - Sanitation Engineer

Housewife - Homemaker

Lawyer - Attorney

Stockbroker - Financial Advisor

Journal - Blog

Computer - Laptop

Laptop - Notebook

Bank - Banking Center

Stewardess - Flight Attendant

Actress - Actor

Waitress - Server

Mailman - Mail Carrier

There are obviously many other examples, but I'm sure you get my point.  We seem to like to make things sound more important than they really are.  Most people can read through the lingo and are not impressed.  While it's impressive to have a large vocabulary, lingo and jargon can often confuse people.  If you want to get your point across, state it simply.  Well, I need to get going.  I have to take my vehicle to the fueling station on my way to my place of business.  Oops, I mean I need to stop and get gas on my way to work!