Somewhere in your 30s, you become both tragically unhip and oblivious to the jargon that builds up in professions not your own. As a writer, though, if we are to communicate well with our readers, we have to try our best to keep up with how the world talks to each other. Whether it’s a marketing letter, a technical document, or two characters in dialogue, you need to know the language appropriate to your audience and your writing.

Here are a few sites I’ve used to do help me with this.

• Acronym Finder – It’s pretty much what it says it is.
• Abbreviations.com – This site is a nice compliment to Acronym Finder!
• The Free Dictionary – They cover jargon galore with their Medical Dictionary, Legal Dictionary, and Financial Dictionary.
• Urban Dictionary – Here’s a resource of slang for the woefully unhip. [salty language alert for those of you who care]
• Text Message Shorthand @ Netlingo – Personally, ‘IM speak’ drives me bat-crazy, but you may need to translate it…
• The Phrontistery – This site celebrates the incredible depth and breadth of the English language with whole lists of obscure words. Word-ophiles will love it. Go for the words but stay for the Compendium of Lost Words, lists of words that fell out of use long ago but ones you may need if you’re writing something like historical fiction.

Enjoy!