Diction
Diction is the author’s word choice; an author can make a short piece more meaningful than a longer one just by choosing cool words.
Jargon, slang, colloquialisms are all interesting parts of diction and language.
Diction is how we describe an author’s choice of words. You will rarely find a character in a novel "saying" anything; often, they "shout," "mutter," "respond," or "sneer." This allows the author to pack as much meaning into one word as possible. The same goes with descriptive words. So, instead of describing a scene like this:
- The old cat was bad for the man’s asthma.
An author could describe it this way, with more interesting diction:
- The dandered and decrepit cat irritated her owner’s asthma.
Okay, so I may not be the next Faulkner, but I hope you get the idea. The words "dandered" and "decrepit" in the second sentence replace "old" in the previous sentence. Not only is the second sentence more interesting, but it more specifically describes the situation. By adding the word "irritated," a tone of frustration or annoyance is added to an otherwise frank explanation of events.
Another aspect of diction depends on the author’s purpose. If the author intends to entertain, there will be much laughter and gaiety all around. His or her word choice will reflect a relaxed diction; informal and colloquial words like "um," "okay," "well," and "K," "LOL," "whatcha up to?," and "nuthin’" are all relaxed words that put the reader in a mind to be entertained. On the other hand, if the author’s purpose is to inform, then the words will be much more formal. Academic writing, presentations, most speeches, and any proposals or resumes are written in precise and proper words:
Both Vladimir Nabokov and Marcel Proust state that the worldview they held as children was slanted and inaccurate, yet each devotes much of his story to the recollection of his formative years. Each has devoted numerous pages to narrating or explaining scenes of his early youth that have affected him later in some manner, profound or otherwise. One should certainly wonder, then, what it is about childhood memories that endow them, for these men, with such weight in later life?
Enough of that. It informs, but only if you are really interested in Speak, Memory or Remembrances of Things Past. Which we aren’t; not at this point.
Slang
I assume you are all familiar with the slang of previous generations: “cool,” “gnarly,” “far out,” etc. (For this, [i.e. your] generation, I use UrbanDictionary.com[1].) So, slang is used in everyday conversation, but never in academic or professional writing.
Colloquialism
Colloquialisms are similar. Droppin’ the “g” after words ending in “-ing” is a Southern colloquialism. These words are usually defined by a geographical location (a good dictionary will tell you the location in which these words are used), but as you can see, slang and colloquialisms are very similar. The second word is just longer.
Jargon
Jargon, however, is quite different from the other two. Jargon is a word for any set of words devoted to a particular task usually used by a particular group or organization. It is used amongst people that are familiar with the topic being discussed. For example, there can be sailing jargon (”aft,” “starboard,” “boom,” etc.), as well as sailing slang and colloquialisms (”avast matey,” “shiver me timbers”). For English students, “gerund,” “apostrophe,” “synecdoche,” and “metonymy” are jargon words. Those who have never studied the language would not understand the technical terms. I am sure you can come up with a few for computer programming, gaming, sports, auto repair, astrophysics, or any other hobby or study.
When an author uses jargon (without defining it), he or she is speaking to a specific audience. So, if you find your author using several words that you are unfamiliar with, grab a dictionary and look them up. If, for example, you look up “humor” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you will find “hu·mor noun . . . 2 a in medieval physiology” below the standard definitions. “In medieval physiology” applies to the word when it is used as jargon.