Reflection: the power of language (1) – words, words, words

Why did I choose that topic for my first “meaty” blog?  There are two quite distinct reasons.  

First and generically, it reflects the power of language. 

It has always struck me, right from my days as an engineering undergraduate, that the proper use of words is vital in every single profession.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that using words properly is the key indicator of a mature profession – imagine if doctors spoke to each other in woolly terms!  But back to engineering – what’s the difference between “stress” and “strain”?  In everyday conversation, we use the words interchangeably:  “I’m under so much stress/strain at work”.  But to a mechanical engineer they represent two fundamentally different things – percentage elongation (strain) and force per unit area (stress).  If your discussing the movement of a bridge under load, you do not want to get that mixed up…

So why do we use words in such a woolly fashion?  “That’s an architecture”  “No it’s a design!” And how many different ways are there of getting the word “component” into a conversation, each and every one of them being different?  What's the difference between a "connector" and a "connection"? (For the avoidance of doubt, it's a big difference.)

Only when we can agree that we will use our words properly and unambiguously, both at at the coffee machine and the drawing board, will we genuinely be able to call ourselves professionals.