by Lt. Cmdr. Tan Eryx
Retired Director, TF Science Corps

Technobabble. The word conjures up long and difficult sounding words with dubious, exotic and peculiar meanings. But what is it, exactly? And how do I create some of my own?

Encarta defines technobabble as: language in which technical jargon or terms are overused, with the effect of making straightforward information difficult or impossible to understand.

How do we create them? Primarily, with two things: Prefixes and Suffixes. A prefix is placed in front of a word, while a suffix is placed after a word. Sometimes, there is also a Root, which is located in the middle of the word.

Let's take an example. As a science officer, I declare that my specialty is "erythrology". Sounds interesting, doesn't it? But what does it really mean? It is a two part word. "Ology" is the suffix and means the study or science of. And "Erythro"? That is a prefix that basically means the color red. So, simply put, as an "erythrologist", I study the color red. (Not as interesting as it sounds, does it?)

How can we make it more usable? In this case, by adding another prefix. We can add the prefix "Helio" between "Erythro" and "ology". That gives us "Erythroheliology". How does this change it? "Helio" means sun or star. So an "erythroheliologist" studies red stars.

Technobabble can be often be misused. Many examples come to us from Star Trek: Voyager. One of the most cited examples is the word "isoton". It was used as a unit of weight measurement. Like most technobabble words, it sounds familiar yet slightly different. What does it mean? "Ton" means 2,000 pounds. "Iso" means equal. So an "isoton" is an equal 2,000 pounds? That makes no sense, of course. (What would an unequal 2,000 pounds be?) But it sounded good.

As a science officer, we should try to make technobabble as accurate as possible. If you have a good idea of what you're trying to convey, check the prefixes and suffixes carefully, in order to make as precise as possible.

Below is a table that you can use to start making your own technobabble. Good luck!