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Laymen's terms

Posted by ESC on April 24, 2005

In Reply to: Laymen's terms posted by Bruce Kahl on April 24, 2005

: : I have been looking around all over and have not been able to discover the actual definition and origin of the phrase "laymen's terms." I have heard it said many times and I understand it but I still don't know the actually meaning.

: A layman is someone who is not an expert in a particular field of study or profession.

: Layman's terms are very simple and easy explanations of a particular subject.

: For instance, I got a resume this week with one person stating that she ran.. "LANDesk Server Manager products, maximizing critical server uptime through proactive and emergency management tools."

: In layman's terms she worked at a computer help desk.

Here is all I know:

LAY - "adj. of ordinary people; not of the clergy or a profession. About 1303 'lai' secular; later 'lay' unlearned, uneducated (before 1338); . 'layman' n. (probably about 1415)." From the "Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology" by Robert K. Barnhart (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1995). Page 424.

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