--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark…" description: "\"Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.\" — Kingman Brewster, Jr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png" --- # Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession. ![“Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.” quote by Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png) > “Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.” [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques that using overly complex language signals professional elitism and obscures meaning. **In simple terms:** Complex jargon signals elitism. Key Takeaway Avoid unnecessary jargon. Themes communication elitism clarity Mood critical reflective Type advisory critical When to use this quote - meetings - reports - presentations - client interactions Key Concepts professionalism language barriers Questions to Reflect On - When did you last simplify your language? - How does jargon affect trust? A Different Perspective Complex jargon can sometimes be necessary for technical precision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jargon/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) ## Related quotes > [The General Theory was not truly revolutionary at all but merely old and oft-refuted mercantilist and inflationist fallacies dressed up in shiny new garb,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/the-general-theory-was-not-truly-revolutionary-at-all-but-merely-old/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [Being incomprehensible offers unparalleled protection against having nothing to say...but writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/being-incomprehensible-offers-unparalleled-protection-against-having/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Never use jargon words like 'reconceptualize', 'demassification', 'attitudinally', 'judgmentally'. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/never-use-jargon-words-like-reconceptualize-demassification/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-that-a-woman-should-ever/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [What I like best about your system? It is as incomprehensible as the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-i-like-best-about-your-system-it-is-as-incomprehensible-as-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can't explain the unknown in terms of the incomprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-schick/you-can-t-explain-the-unknown-in-terms-of-the-incomprehensible/) Theodore Schick > [Be warned in time, James, and remain, as I do, incomprehensible: to be great is to be misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/be-warned-in-time-james-and-remain-as-i-do-incomprehensible-to-be/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-tasmania-an-island-the-size-of-ireland-whose-primeval-forests/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Sometimes people accuse me of being incomprehensible only because they look for an explicative side to my pictures which is not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/sometimes-people-accuse-me-of-being-incomprehensible-only-because/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-has-to-live-in-the-midst-of-the-incomprehensible-which-is-also/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I do not want to found anything on the incomprehensible. I want to know whether I can live with what I know and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-do-not-want-to-found-anything-on-the-incomprehensible-i-want-to/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I know by myself how incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/i-know-by-myself-how-incomprehensible-god-is-seeing-i-cannot/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [“O how incomprehensible everything was, and actually sad, although it was also beautiful. One knew nothing. One lived and ran about the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-hesse/o-how-incomprehensible-everything-was-and-actually-sad-although-it/) [Herman Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-hesse/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“All the same I keep on looking for someone incomprehensible who won't understand me either, because I have a terrible thirst for brotherhood”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-ajar/all-the-same-i-keep-on-looking-for-someone-incomprehensible-who-won-t/) Emile Ajar ## More by Kingman Brewster, Jr > [It is the natural desire of each nation to use the other as an instrument of its own purposes and policies. By dint of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/it-is-the-natural-desire-of-each-nation-to-use-the-other-as-an/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [Maybe you are the "cool" generation If coolness means a capacity to stay calm and use your head in the service of ends passionately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/maybe-you-are-the-cool-generation-if-coolness-means-a-capacity-to/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [While the spoken word can travel faster, you cant take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/while-the-spoken-word-can-travel-faster-you-cant-take-it-home-in-your/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [Universities should be safe havens where ruthless examination of realities will not be distorted by the aim to please or inhibited by the risk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/universities-should-be-safe-havens-where-ruthless-examination-of/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [We all live in a televised goldfish bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/we-all-live-in-a-televised-goldfish-bowl/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [It won't make for a quiet life but it will make for an interesting paper vastly more significant because it is doing something only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/it-won-t-make-for-a-quiet-life-but-it-will-make-for-an-interesting/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [The presumption of innocence is not just a legal concept. In commonplace terms, it rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/the-presumption-of-innocence-is-not-just-a-legal-concept-in/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [You and I know that there is a correlation between the creative and the screwball. So we must suffer the screwball gladly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/you-and-i-know-that-there-is-a-correlation-between-the-creative-and/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [It is satisfying for the descendant of a dissident refugee from Elizabeth I to present his credentials to Elizabeth II.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/it-is-satisfying-for-the-descendant-of-a-dissident-refugee-from/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [With all the mass media concentrated in a few hands, the ancient faith in the competition of ideas in the free market seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/with-all-the-mass-media-concentrated-in-a-few-hands-the-ancient-faith/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [The newspaper fits the reader's program while the listener must fit the broadcaster's program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/the-newspaper-fits-the-reader-s-program-while-the-listener-must-fit/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [There is no lasting hope in violence, only temporary relief from hopelessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/there-is-no-lasting-hope-in-violence-only-temporary-relief-from/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [Judgment is more than skill. It sets forth on intellectual seas beyond the shores of hard indisputable factual information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/judgment-is-more-than-skill-it-sets-forth-on-intellectual-seas-beyond/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [There is no greater challenge than to have someone relying upon you; no greater satisfaction than to vindicate his expectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/there-is-no-greater-challenge-than-to-have-someone-relying-upon-you/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/if-i-take-refuge-in-ambiguity-i-assure-you-that-it-s-quite-conscious/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) [Explore all 19 Kingman Brewster, Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) ## More Career quotes > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) Alison James > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [There are so many things you can do with your life, you can go to school and study toward your career, you can become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/there-are-so-many-things-you-can-do-with-your-life-you-can-go-to/) [Simphiwe Scientist Dumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/) > [I always knew I wanted to have a good career, so I made it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chord-overstreet/i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-have-a-good-career-so-i-made-it-happen/) [Chord Overstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chord-overstreet/) > [I am a very big fan of Brian Eno, of his work as an artist and making his music, and as a producer. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rostam-batmanglij/i-am-a-very-big-fan-of-brian-eno-of-his-work-as-an-artist-and-making/) [Rostam Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rostam-batmanglij/) > [If I can beat a proven champion like Canelo, that will take my career to a different level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennady-golovkin/if-i-can-beat-a-proven-champion-like-canelo-that-will-take-my-career/) [Gennady Golovkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennady-golovkin/) > [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [“The vocation of a man lies in his vision.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-vocation-of-a-man-lies-in-his-vision/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I started off as a model maker, so the first part of my career was a model maker and then a motion control camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/i-started-off-as-a-model-maker-so-the-first-part-of-my-career-was-a/) [John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/) > [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-doubleday/growing-up-i-did-commercials-and-things-like-that-but-nothing-serious/) [Portia Doubleday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-doubleday/) > [You can have a career and kids who love you. But you have to nurture yourself and find a way to be fulfilled so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-reitman/you-can-have-a-career-and-kids-who-love-you-but-you-have-to-nurture/) [Catherine Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-reitman/) > [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Even though I'm already successful and have a career, it is always good to have your eggs in more than one basket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-abraham/even-though-i-m-already-successful-and-have-a-career-it-is-always/) [Farrah Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-abraham/) [Browse all 11,387 Career quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kingman Brewster, Jr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark-of-a-profession/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Career" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark-of-a-profession/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/kingman-brewster-jr-28452_career_incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark_293006.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.” — Kingman Brewster, Jr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kingman Brewster, Jr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark-of-a-profession/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark-of-a-profession/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```