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up vote 2 down vote favorite

What is a better way of saying this sentence?

The banker explained the working of bank in an easy way for a layman to understand without any core banking words.

The emphasis is on the highlighted part.

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2  
I think the easiest way it to put a period after understand and forget the highlighted part completely. "The banker explained how the the bank works in terms a layman could easily understand." – Jim Nov 9 '12 at 3:25
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What @Jim said. Obviously a layman won't be familiar with specialist banking terminology (I assume that's what OP means by "core banking words"). So if he can understand the explanation, it's already implicit that it doesn't use any obscure terminology. It doesn't need to be explicitly stated as well. – FumbleFingers Nov 9 '12 at 3:40

3 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

..without any banking industry jargon

Jargon's definition from dictionary.reference.com/browse/jargon

"The language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group"

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Jargon is one possibility, but firstly it's an inherently "loaded" term, and secondly it seems to me it's at least somewhat informal, if not actually "slangy". More "neutral" alternatives include, for example, specialist banking terminology. – FumbleFingers Nov 9 '12 at 3:44
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@FumbleFingers: Jargon is jargon, while specialist banking terminology is businesspeak. (while businesspeak is jargon for bloated speech like specialist terminology). Some consider jargon slangy and specialist terminology neutral. Others consider jargon neutral and specialist terminology bloated. The two groups seriously dislike each other. – SF. Nov 9 '12 at 8:32
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@SF. "Jargon" is the right word is this case because it means "2: the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group". "Specialist terminology" is a euphemism, like "intellectually challenged". Some jargon is slangy and some is not. "Argot", the jargon of the underworld, is "an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group", is always in-group slang. – Bill Franke Nov 9 '12 at 9:19
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@FumbleFingers, I think we're more-or-less saying the same thing. I support software for medical practices and deal with medical jargon every day - it's a fact of life. As always, I respect and welcome your comments. – Kristina Lopez Nov 9 '12 at 14:14
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Glad I'm not in Australia - I'd be totally offended being call old! ;-) – Kristina Lopez Nov 9 '12 at 16:58
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up vote 4 down vote

"The banker explained how a bank works in layman's terms"

and

"The banker explained in layman's terms how a bank works"

are shorter and incorporate the highlighted portion of your original sentence in the phrase in layman's terms.

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up vote 3 down vote

If the emphasis is meant to be on the bolded words (that is, the avoidance of jargon is the key message to be conveyed) then you could move it to a more prominent position.

The banker needed no specialist vocabulary to explain the business in terms a layman could understand.

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