is "Time Running Out for Jargon-Riddled WTO," on a funny story by Bradley Klapper (AP via chron.com, June 27)." For the best weblog post title about the WTO see Daniel Drezner's post on Klapper's story.
Although the WTO is "jargon-riddled," the Klapper story headline is misleading. Time may or may not be running out for the WTO, it is for the Doha Round - and Klapper's story is clear about that. Also, this story isn't so much about the jargon, as about the wild proliferation of metaphors used by insiders to convey the status and dynamics of the negotiating process, and to frame the debate:
Senior trade officials, like the mythical Daedalus, revel in their ability to create images, likening agricultural sessions to a jet engine or negotiating rounds to the periods of a hockey match....
The WTO is surely one of the most cliche-riddled bodies in the world as diplomats compete in a game of words to describe sometimes impenetrably complex trade issues. Even if the metaphors only sometimes add substance, catchy phrases usually mean more to people outside the rarified air of global commerce.
The cliches in Klapper's collection are about negotiating dynamics, rather than the complex trade issues being negotiated.
Experts need jargon to talk efficiently among themselves about complex issues and processes. But Klapper looks at one tool for going beyond expert jargon to inform and engage the public.
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