Talk:Technobabble

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I'm troubled by the focus of this article on the use of jargon to obfuscated - I don't think it's at all the primary usage of the term. It seems to me primarily a disparagement of bad science fiction - something that is woefully undercovered in the article. Phil Sandifer 17:36, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

I wouldn't want to see the definition as 'jargon to obfuscate' removed, but feel free to prune it back, and expand on the literary usage. I understand technobabble to be a varient of psychobabble or eduspeak, but certainly other uses exist. Tom Harrison Talk 18:29, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This is on the wrong subject

"Technobabble" refers primarily to Science Fiction as Phil says above. Certainly that should be the focus of this article. In fact, are there any sources at all to support the definition here that is given as primary? I have placed the {{sources}} and {{accuracy}} tags on this page until these issues are addressed. -- SCZenz 06:26, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't know about the accuracy of this, but I've heard the term originated (or was at least used) in the production of star trek, when writers would indicate long strings of science-sounding nonsense by just indicating 'technobabble' in the script, and one of the producers would make up some appropriate lines. I'm sure a trek fan would know.

The term itself definitely comes from science fiction - its relation to professional or technical language comes from the fact that, to the uninitiated, such language makes little or no sense, and might as well be about dilithium crystals or some other such technobabble. Jqam 07:13, 10 August 2006 (UTC)



  • The Star Trek example is on the wrong subject because the movie in question doesn't take place in the 23rd century and hence the argument is invalid. Therefore, I removed those sentences.

[edit] This is not the wrong subject

I did a Google search for "technobabble." From the first page of results: Technobabble A web log about technology. Techno Babble technology news and reviews. From Technorati items tagged "technobabble," most are about real-world technology. TechnoBabble a computer and web design company. There were also two Trek references.

From the second page of results technobabble another technology web log. Snake oil FAQ mentions technobabble as something to watch out when evaluating encryption software. Technobabble yet another tech blog. http://www.shadowscope.com/technobabble/ and another. Avoiding technobabble article on how the use of technobabble by technical workers alienates others instead of engaging them. technobabble a glossary of computer terms. There were no science fiction references on this page of results.

It appears that the "other" usage of the term is quite common. Hope this helps. 70.174.51.171 02:24, 15 March 2007 (UTC) RichM90071 02:27, 15 March 2007 (UTC) [for some reason I wasn't logged in the first time]

[edit] Removing tags

  1. the references for the origin of the term are well presented. The complaints above appear to fail my examination.
  2. the term appears to predate its use Star Trek; if they did insert the term "technobable" into the scripts, that seems to imply the term was already in use. These notes were for other editors, not the end-product script.
  3. there is a separate article on its use in fiction.

For these reasons I believe the article is balanced and accurate. I am removing the tags.

Maury 16:06, 15 March 2007 (UTC)