Scientific jargon
by Dyrk Schingman 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.
| How is it written | What does it mean |
|---|---|
| "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. |