Women understand jargon better than men do, says Carphone Warehouse's Geek Squad

Men get more confused by technical jargon than women do, according to research from the Geek Squad, which now aims to stop using so much jargon.

Carphone Warehouse's technical-support service said the neurological study it commissioned showed that women were more naturally comfortable with jargon but when men were confronted with technical terminology their frustration levels soared. Negative reactions to terms such as OS and Vlogging were 138 per cent higher for men than for women.

Read more: Computeractive Jargon Buster | PC Help 

Neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis said: "Trying to understand a language you are not familiar with can be extremely frustrating for anyone. Most of us have been in a situation where we've found reading an instruction booklet for a new gadget as difficult as understanding a foreign language.

"The feeling of confusion causes our stress levels to rise steeply. When we don't understand something, we can become frustrated and emotional, explaining the increases in mental and physical arousal seen in our study."

The Geek Squad said the findings have led to it updating company policy to cut down on jargon, including banning what is said it believed were the 10 most confusing tech terms.

The measure will be rolled out across 150 Geek Squad precincts nationwide from 1 February.

The Geek Squad's Top 10 blacklist of confusing jargon

1. Algorithm
2. Beta
3. Cache
4. Phablet
5. Vlogging
6. Phishing
7. ISP
8. Trojan
9. Geo-tagging
10. Back-end