Re: [semanticweb] how to explain to humans the term ontology

If your programmers are OO developers just tell them: UML.

Syntax: how to put words together to form sentences.
Semantics: how the words relate to things in the world, so that  
sentences can be said to be true or false.
Ontology: What types of things a universe of discourse is about, and  
what types of relations those things support.