Tim Burke asks the question on my mind:
Is there any purpose or meaning that the word “societal” has which is not equally well served by “social”? Is “societal” just one of those words that makes you sound more policy-wonkish? Or does it really have some more specific meaning than “social”?
Are there other examples of unnecessary jargon or wordiness that you can think of? I wouldn’t count jargon words that do have a different meaning, like “history” and “historicity.” I personally think people could use “equality” half the time they use “equity” but I guess the latter is technically correct, too.
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