Special term matter

We belong some cluster in the occupation, sometimes unintentionally. You may in the IT industry, or you may be a cook, or you may work in a hospital. And, every cluster has its own codes. It is often confusing that there are quite similar terms that have different meaning.

For example, all psychiatrists know what CBT means. It is the abbreviation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which I introduced some times previously.

My past entry: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, a new way to protect you from depression

My past entry: Treatment of depression is getting cheaper

However, it also means Computer Based Test, adopted in the exams for medical students. I had to be familiar with both the terms as a lecturer of the medical school. It annoyed me a little.

Such special terms are usually unfamiliar to people who are not a specialist in the industry. In other words, understanding some special terms is required to be a specialist. There are many special terms to be used at work, and we have no time to explain each term every day.

This issue is common in most industries, usually harmless. However, a specialist has a responsibility to make a proper explanation to non-specialist people on some occasion. In this case, you should not use any special terms without explanation.

In this article, the author was confused hearing the term "ass baton" when he engaged in the duty of jury.

The Atlantic: Build Your Vocabulary, 'Ass Baton' Edition

At last, he was told that these mysterious words were "ASP baton" he misheard. ASP is the abbreviation of "Armament Systems and Procedures."  It seems quite common for local police and relevant professionals, but few other people know the meaning of ASP, I guess.

CBT can be searched using Google. But "Ass Baton" and similar misheard words are hardly found on the internet even if you utilize fuzzy reference tools. The top of the search result in Goole for "Ass Baton" is below:

Urban Dictionary: Ass Baton

I am not sure whether this description is correct. Anyway, the authorities never said "Ass Baton" in this case.

In the UK, I often heard the word, "SLaM." At first, I could not understand the meaning. Are there any slums in London? Or who made a grand slam in a contract bridge tournament? Actually, it is the abbreviation of "South London and Maudsley," a jurisdiction of National Health Service in the UK.

SLaM

In Japan, Lay Judge Act went into force some years ago. We had to be ready to explain the procedure of a court trial and the result of the psychiatric testimony of the defendants to lay judges, mostly nonspecialists. We wrote some guidelines about it. It was a tough task, but offered us an opportunity to acquire deep understanding of the nature of our work.

Explaining something is one of the supreme methods to learn it.