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From: Eradicating Jargon-Oblivion—A Proposed Classification System of Medical Jargon
Technical terminology
Words likely learned in medical school including disease names, symptoms, anatomy, procedures, treatments, and laboratory tests
Acronyms for technical terminology CABG CBC UA Lost in translation acronyms
NPO (for nothing by mouth)
EKG (for electroCardiogram) LFTs (for liver function tests, which actually do not indicate liver function) Abbreviations Cath Coags
Endo
Medical vernacular
Words that may be familiar to most but are not universally known or understood
Disease names Sepsis Ulcer Anatomy Scapula Lymph nodes Treatments/tests Steroids Cultures Descriptions Inflammation Mental status changes Acute vs. chronic Sexually active Vital signs/terminology Febrile Saturations
Blood pressure
Medicalized English
Words which are known but have a different meaning in the context of medicine than in everyday use
Accidental antonyms Negative (negative blood culture) Positive (positive nodes) Progressing (tumor is progressing) Different meanings in medicine Tenderness (Do you have any tenderness?) Appreciate (I do not appreciate your murmur) Focus/focal (So the primary focus of your pain is your knee?)
Impressive (The rash is not impressive to me)
Unnecessary synonyms
Universally understood terms we overcomplicate by replacing known terms with unknown synonyms