Mysterious language of science
Scientific Jargon by Dyrk Schingman at Oregon State University †
After several years of studying and hard work, I have finally learned scientific jargon. The following list of phrases and their definitions will help you to understand that mysterious language of science and medicine.
- "IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN..."
- I didn't look up the original reference.
- "A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT..."
- These data are practically useless.
- "WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS..."
- An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
- "THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY..."
- The other results didn't make any sense.
- "TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN..."
- This is the prettiest graph.
- "THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT..."
- I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
- "THE MOST RELIABLE RESULTS ARE OBTAINED BY JONES..."
- He was my graduate student; his grade depended on this.
- "IN MY EXPERIENCE..."
- Once.
- "IN CASE AFTER CASE..."
- Twice.
- "IN A SERIES OF CASES..."
- Thrice.
- "IT IS BELIEVED THAT..."
- I think.
- "IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT..."
- A couple of other guys think so too.
- "CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE..."
- Wrong.
- "ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS..."
- Rumor has it.
- "A STATISTICALLY ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS..."
- A wild guess.
- "A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA..."
- Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.
- "IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENA OCCURS..."
- I don't understand it.
- "AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES..."
- They don't understand it either.
- "THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISSTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND ANDREA SCHAEFFER FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS..."
- Mr. Blotz did the experiment and Ms. Schaeffer explained to me what it meant.
- "A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY..."
- A totally useless topic selected by my committee.
- "IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD..."
- I quit.
