he U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Plain English Handbook ( SEC, 1998 ) states that jargon makes it difficult for investors to understand management disclosures. This is consistent with survey findings that too much jargon gets in the way of clarity and makes information hard to understand for non-professional investors ( SEC, 2009 ), a sentiment also shared by professional investors ( FRC, 2009; KPMG, 2013 ). While the SEC’s Plain English Handbook ( SEC, 1998 )suggests that managers avoid business and technical jargon in their disclosures, managers have not limited their use of jargon ( Accounting WEB, 2011 ). One possibility for managers’ use of jargon is that they intend to signal their competence and expertise to attract more investment. This is possible as psychological research shows that people consider jargon a signal of an author’s expertise ( Sawyer et al., 2008 ) and believe that complex words are indicative of a more intelligent author( Pennebaker and King, 1999 ). Given these competing views, it is important to examine whether and how management’s use of jargon affects investor judgment.