3.3.1 Same term, different meanings
In the next activity you will watch a video featuring Jan Grothusen, chief executive of an engineering company called Guidance, in which he talks about the potential pitfalls of using particular specialist terms with a member of a different profession.
Activity 21
Watch the video and then complete the drag-and-drop activity that follows.

Transcript: Specialist terminology and jargon
Taking into account what Jan says and your own understanding of the term, match each meaning of the word ‘target’ to the person who would be most likely to use the word with that meaning.
Two lists follow, match one item from the first with one item from the second. Each item can only be matched once. There are 3 items in each list.
An object that you locate and track
An object that you shoot at
A goal
Match each of the previous list items with an item from the following list:
a.A lay person, using everyday language
b.Jan’s customer, who has a military background
c.Jan Grothusen
- 1 = c,
- 2 = b,
- 3 = a
Discussion
In its everyday sense, ‘target’ is used metaphorically rather than literally.
As you can see, the connotations of the word ‘target’ are completely different in engineering, military and business contexts. In many instances words which have an everyday meaning also have a specialist meaning in other contexts.