One reason for all the jargon in landscape, architecture, and interior design, for the ambiguity, and for the assumptions is what Larson (1977) refers to as a part of The Rise of Professionalism (in regard to landscape architecture see Vernon, 1987). All professions create entry level experiences that seem to scream “I know something you don’t know. You’ll have to go through all these tests, and spend all this money, to become what I am.” This makes a profession seem all the more needed and necessary from the public’s perspective. After all, like the first weeks you were in your design program, think about all the words, all the terminology you’d never heard before. Made to feel ignorant (meaning not knowing) I’ll bet many students, like I was, are afraid to ask questions, to ask for clarifications, because to do so is to admit in front of others that “you seemingly don’t know.” And that won’t earn you an “A.”
Larson, M. S. 1977. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. Berkeley: University of California.
Vernon, N. D. 1987. “Toward Defining the Profession: The Development of The Code of Ethics And The Standards of Professional Practice of The American Society Of Landscape Architects, 1899-1927.” Landscape Journal 6, no.1: 13-20.