What do you call the practice of using (overly) complex words specific to a subject?

What do you call the practice of using (overly) complex words specific to a subject? I am thinking of scientific or academic fields where the common terminology used in the field is very unapproachable to someone not in the field. The situation I am imagining is when one professor gives a lecture using field specific language and the topic seems very difficult to approach to the lay person. On the other hand, another professor may give a lecture conveying the same information using terminology and phrasing easily understood by outsiders. Is there a word to describe this difference in style practice?

Good question, the word "arcane" can be handy here. It can be used either pejoratively or positively. "Man, that speaker used a lot of arcane terms from her speciality. "

7 Answers 7

To describe such pedantic style, consider jargon.

1. the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group, e.g. medical jargon.
2. unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish. any talk or writing that one does not understand.
3. language that is characterized by uncommon or, pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.

Example: Use technical terms and Jargon to impress the customer!

Jargon is the language itself. Jargonism would be the corresponding term for the use of it, by a jargonist.

Sure, I agree it is jargon when using specialty specific words. Jargon is also the word used in this scenario in business communication textbooks. However, I think you probably nailed the situation much better with your third word: pedantic. The act of giving an overly complex lecture is pedantic, while the overly complex terminology itself is merely jargon.

hi @co_biostat - I wish you would deselect the other incorrect answer, and select this one :) "Jargon" means "a specific type of language". (Indeed, exactly what you ask.) "Esoteric" does not, at all, in any way, mean "a specific type of language". "Esoteric" is nothing more than a synonym for "complex". Thus: your question is (correct me if I'm wrong): "What's a term for esoteric language?" or "What's a term for complex language?" The answer is something like "jargon" "technobabble" etc.

Note that - very simply - the sentence "He used a lot of esotericism" means nothing. You might as well say "He used a lot of complex." Complex/esoteric what? Diagrams? Math? (However, if indeed you are asking for a word for a persson who uses jargon - I don't know. Maybe sesquipedalian.) Cheers!

If the topic is not natively impossible to understand, but the speaker is choosing overly-complex words, consider "sesquipedalian". ("Sesquipedalian" has a negative connotation.)

Sesquipedalian can also be used to describe someone or something that overuses big words, like a philosophy professor or a chemistry textbook. If someone gives a sesquipedalian speech, people often assume it was smart, even if they don’t really know what it was about because they can’t understand the words. Each of those long words is referred to as a sesquipedalia.

If you feel like this choice of overly-complex words is more a product of their education and scholarly background and less a product of their ego, you may use 'erudite', although this doesn't necessarily imply that the lecture was difficult to follow. I believe that 'erudite' is neutral-positive in connotation.

having or showing knowledge that is learned by studying

If you think that the topic material itself is the primary source for their use of jargon, then you can just call it 'technical'. The following sources refer to this exact type of material as 'technical', and they appear to be using the word 'technical' to describe what you are describing.