Do you modulate?

One of my favorite examples of scientist-speak: modulate.

I've found that when scientists use this word, it's basically a hedge. If something modulates something else, it means that it changes it in some way, but it's not known exactly how. For instance, the sentence "Calcium modulates blood pressure," sounds good, but it doesn't really tell you much. Does calcium lower blood pressure, increase it a little bit, or send it soaring through the roof? Going by that sentence, it's a safe bet that no one really knows.

Scientists don't know everything, after all; if they did, they wouldn't do science, which means asking questions and setting up experiments to try to answer them. But they employ all kinds of jargon that, intentionally or not, confuses the rest of us and sometimes obscures meaning.

Not to pick on scientists. Professionals of all stripes cling to their jargon. Journalists, can you say deck, kicker, lede?

How has jargon confused or amused you lately? Please share.

Welcome to my Word Pile

With any story, a writer's head (and MS word files) are full of stuff that gets left out. These ideas or facts get cut because they digress too much from the main story, are too personal, too "sciency," or, well, because the story is too damn long.

I'm starting this blog as a way to share and make sense of some of these tidbits. I'm a non-scientist who reports and write mostly about science. My posts will consist mostly of words or ideas I encounter that I find weird, confusing, or just plain pretty. If you find some of them interesting, all the better. Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment.