11.4 Jargon.

Many words have found their way into medicalvocabularies with unusual meanings that are notrecognized even by medical dictionaries. Suchwritings may be characterized as medical jargonor medical slang. When these words appear inmedical manuscripts or in medical conversation,they are unintelligible to other scientists, particularlythose of foreign countries; they are not translatableand are the mark of the careless and unculturedperson.   Morris Fishbein, MD I have laboured to refine our language to gram-matical purity, and to clear it from colloquialbarbarisms, licentious idioms, and irregularcombinations.  Samuel Johnson (1709 1784)Words and phrases that can be understood in conversation but are vague, confusing, or depersonalizing are generally inappropriate ...Less