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JARGON

People who work together or who share a common career or interest often develop their own specialized words and expressions, which outsiders may not understand. This unique language is often called jargon.

Many times, jargon is created from abbreviations and acronyms. Jargon often serves as shorthand for more complex terminology.

Jargon should not be used in business communications if:

The readers are not part of the group that uses the specialized language.

A more familiar term can be used.

Abbreviations or acronyms are not defined.

JOB TITLES

When writing about job titles, do not capitalize the job title unless referring to a specific person and his or her job title.

Example: president, vice president, general manager

Example: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, General Manager Phil Jackson

JOINT POSSESSIVES

A joint possessive is a structure that involves expressing ownership of objects that are owned by two or more people.

When the same object is owned by two people, add an apostrophe only after the last name.

Example: That’s David and Cathy’s house.

If referring to objects that each person owns individually, add an apostrophe after each name.

Example: Those are David’s and Cathy’s motorcycles.

When one of the people is referred to by a pronoun, add the apostrophe only after the person who is named.

Example: Those are David’s and her children.

JR., SR.

Junior and senior are abbreviated as Jr. and Sr. Both abbreviations capitalize only the first letter and add a period after the r.

Do not use a comma to separate Jr. or Sr. from the last name.

Example: Bob Stephens Jr.

When writing about a couple, Jr. or Sr. goes after both names.

Example: Gloria and John Jefferson Jr.

When only using the last name, avoid using the Jr. or Sr.

Example: Mr. Stephens