Jargon, Acronyms, & Slang

"I tried to keep up with the conversation as best I could, but when I heard phrases like myocardial infarction and fibromyalgia I just knew I couldn’t hack it as a physician." In this quotation from the selection, myocardial infarction and fibromyalgia are examples of

• dialect.

• everyday speech.

• hyperbole.

• jargon.

• slang.

What would be the acronym for "President of the United States of America"?

• POTUS

• "President"

• "the big cheese"

• "The buck stops here."

• "the Prez"

The two Presidential candidates argued over whether or not the North American Free Trade Agreement was a good deal or not. The North American Free Trade Agreement is otherwise known by the acronym

• Nat-Am-Free.

• NAFTA.

• NATO.

• that big trade agreement.

• the North American deal.

Which word from this sentence is an example of jargon used primarily in the legal profession? "By prohibiting trade in these depictions, Section 48 targets this netherworld of animal cruelty."

• cruelty

• depictions

• prohibiting

• Section 48

• targets

"According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 99 percent of all Americans are literate. While most people think of literacy as simply having the ability to read and write, Teachers Network Policy Institute member MetLife Fellows claims that literacy 'encompasses communication through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The four are interrelated, so development in one area impacts development in the other three.'" In which profession would you most likely find the type of jargon used in this paragraph?

• academics

• athletics

• industry

• medicine

• politics

4 My meanderings into the shaded grove of poetry seemed like the perfect escape from my father’s medical mumbo jumbo until I realized in college that my literature professors often sounded as poetic as a ten-car pileup. I recall in particular one professor who asked us to read a poem by Alexander Pope called The Rape of the Lock, a humorous poem about a young man who cuts off a wisp of a young woman’s hair. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, before I knew what was what, my young professor demanded that I “deconstruct” the poem and analyze it for evidence of what she called “commodity fetishism.” “I want to read the thing,” I told her, “Not pull it apart.” And when I asked her what commodity fetishism was, she looked at me as if I were some inferior life form. “Look it up!” Said she, frowning. I had to pull an all-nighter to finish that assignment in time. It wasn't long before she had me writing a paper on the evils of eurocentric curricula. I finally put my foot down when she demanded that I attend her lecture on the perils of Islamaphobia.

Which phrase from paragraph four of the selection is an example of jargon?

• "some inferior life form"

• "the shaded grove of poetry"

• "the perils of Islamaphobia"

• "as poetic as a ten-car pileup"

• "cuts off a wisp of a young woman’s hair"

"It wasn't long before she had me writing a paper on the evils of eurocentric curricula." Which statement BEST explains why this quotation from the selection includes jargon?

• It's impossible to write a paper on this topic.

• People all over the world benefit from eurocetric curricula.

• It is an exaggeration to call eurocentric curricula "evil."

• The phrase eurocentric curricula would not be understood by most people.

• The quotation does not include an example of jargon.

"Since Joe is so good at fixing things, he decided to write his own DIY book for home-repair." What does the acronym DIY stand for?

• Dallas-Identity-Youth

• Do-It-Yourself

• Don't-Invest-Yourself

• Double-Identification-Youth

• Drive-In-Year

Which statement includes an example of jargon? *

• "I blame him for sending me back to the pitcher’s mound so soon that I passed out on national television."

• "Can you speak English?"

• "Do you know what my ERA is?"

• "Nobody looks up to you when you’re flat on your back."

• "Simple case of malpractice, I tell you!"

"Well, before I knew what was what, my young professor demanded that I 'deconstruct' the poem and analyze it for evidence of what she called 'commodity fetishism.'" What does the slang phrase what was what mean, as used in paragraph four of this selection?

• It has multiple meanings, depending on the context.

• It is meant to be humorous but does not actually mean anything.

• It means "what was happening" or "what was going on."

• It means "where I was going."

• It is not slang but Standard American English.