When a term means something else to the reader

A shared language does not guarantee a shared meaning. Medical expressions can carry assumptions about local practice, ordinary speech and health culture that readers from another linguistic background do not share.

Cultural meanings of symptoms and complaints

Using English as a common language does not remove differences between an author's and a reader's cultural or linguistic experience. ¹ Colloquial complaint terms can therefore be misleading when interpreted literally: the French crise de foie, literally “liver crisis”, describes general malaise, often after a heavy meal or wine, rather than necessarily a liver disorder. ¹ German Kreislaufprobleme can refer to low blood pressure, dizziness and general malaise, while British “bad circulation” commonly evokes cold hands and feet. ¹

Jargon that depends on local practice

Medical jargon depends on shared context and background knowledge, and American and British usage can differ considerably. ¹ Expressions such as “X-plant clinic” for transplant clinic, “Ox4” for orientation to person, place, time and situation, and “the patient coded” for cardiac arrest may be familiar inside an English-speaking healthcare setting but unclear to readers outside it. ¹ Ordinary speech can also obscure the intended form: “pill” can refer to a tablet or a capsule. ¹

For multilingual audiences, jargon should be replaced by a more general expression readers can understand. ¹ Checking whether a term appears in a medical dictionary is a useful first test; absence should prompt a search for clearer wording. ¹

Ambiguity across languages

“Alternative treatment” can suggest non-standard medicine such as herbal treatment or homeopathy; “other treatment” is clearer when only another treatment is intended. ¹ “Take the tablets with dinner” can mean midday or evening depending on local usage, so “evening meal” states the intended timing more clearly. ¹ For the cardiac condition, “angina pectoris” avoids confusion with angina meaning tonsillitis in German and other languages. ¹