Jargon

Some of the difficulty in wading through and mastering any craft is in its language.

We can see part of the problem with the use of the word "jargon" itself. While it is defined as, "special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand," I'd prefer to define it as a term that gradually has lost its meaning.

As a term evolves through years of use, it can grow to mean more and more things. Eventually, there are even arguments using these terms where the individuals erroneously think they are on opposing sides.

As we read a text and come across a term, one must think, what does the author mean by this word? Often, we automatically ask this when it is an esoteric term, but this is less useful than asking it with more common terms.