Jargon

The FDA’s 1999 regulation 

Ken Bresler’s Recommendation

abdominal

Use “abdominal” or “stomach” (in context only). The FDA does not explain which context it means.

Use “stomach” or “near the stomach.”

accompanied by

Use “accompanied by,” “you also have,” or “that occurs with.”

Use “you also have.”

administer

Use “administer” or “give.”

Use “give.”  It is a simple one-syllable word, as opposed to “administer,” which has four syllables.

aggravate

 Use “aggravate” or “make worse.”

Use “make worse.”  It’s simpler than “aggravate.”

application

Use “application” or “applying.”

Use “putting on” or “rubbing in.”  They’re simpler phrases.  Don’t use  “application,” which also has means “job application.”  Why use a same word that is more common in a different context?

apply

NA

Use “put on” or “rub in.”  Don’t use “apply.”  The local drugstore is full of products with “apply” in the directions.  The same drugstore may have a sign in the window, “Now Hiring.  Apply Within.”  Why risk confusing consumers, who are more familiar with the second usage?

area

NA

Use “skin” if that is what you mean.

are uncertain

Use “are uncertain” or “do not know.”

Use “do not know,” “are unsure,” or “are not sure.”

assistance

Use “assistance,” “help,” or “aid.”

Use “help” or “aid.”  They are simple single-syllable words.  “Assistance” has three syllables.  If you’re shipwrecked and you spell out a message on the beach in coconuts, what are you going to say?  “Help.”  Not “assistance.”  Not “aid.”

assist

NA

Use “help.”

associated with

Use “associated with,” “due to,” or “caused by”

Use “due to” or “caused by.”  They’re shorter, simpler, and clearer than “associated with.”  When you read in the newspaper that someone is “associated” with organized crime, is he a mobster or not?  Newspapers are sometimes vague on purpose, but labels should not be.

avoid

NA

Use the phrases “don’t,” “as little as possible,” or “keep away from.”

avoid contact with eyes

Use “avoid contact with eyes” or “do not get into eyes.”

Use “do not get into eyes” or “keep away from eyes.”  Don’t use “avoid contact with eyes,” for three reasons. One, the package label might advise the consumer to contact a doctor.  That means “contact” will be used on the same label in two different senses.  Two, consumers should do more than avoid getting this stuff in their eyes; they should not do so. Three, in the context of eyes, "contact" can mean"contact lenses." Why risk confusion, even momentarily?

avoid excess handling    

NA

Use the phrase “handle this as little as possible.”

avoid contamination

Use “avoid contamination” or “avoid contaminating.”

This is a hard one, because “contaminate” doesn’t have a commonly used synonym.  Recommendation: “Don’t get dirt / anything else / [name of contaminant] in this product.”

avoid inhaling

Use “avoid inhaling” or “do not inhale.”

Use “do not breathe this product,” or, if appropriate, “do not breathe the fumes.”

before a doctor is consulted

Use the phrases “before a doctor is consulted,” “without first consulting your doctor,” or “consult your doctor before.”

Use “ask” or “talk with,” whichever is appropriate. Use the phrases, “before asking your doctor” or “before talking with your doctor”; or “ask your doctor before” or “talk with your doctor before”; or “ask your doctor first” or “talk with your doctor” first.

beverages

Use “beverages” or “drinks.”

Use “drinks.”  Even people who know what “beverages” means hardly use the word in conversation.  One common context for “beverages” is “alcoholic beverages.”  If that’s what you mean, just say, “alcoholic drinks.”

broken skin

NA

Use “cuts and scrapes” if that’s what you mean.  Use “cuts, scrapes, rashes, and burns” if that’s what you mean.

cleanse

Use “cleanse” or “clean.”

Use “clean.”  It is simpler, conversational, and easier to pronounce.

consecutive

NA

Use “in a row.”

consult

At one point in the regulation, the FDA recommends using “consult,” “contact,” or “ask.”  Elsewhere, it recommends using “consult” or “advise.”

Use “contact” or “ask.”  They’re simpler words than consult.  “Ask” has the additional advantage of being a single syllable.

develops

Use “develops,” “begins,” or “occurs.”

Use “starts,” “happens,” or “comes.” 

difficulty

Use “difficulty” or “trouble.”

Use “trouble.”  It has two syllables; “difficulty” has four.

difficulty in urination

Use “difficulty in urination” or “trouble urinating.”

Use “trouble urinating.”   Not only is “trouble” shorter and more conversational than “difficulty,” but “urinating” is a verb, which is preferable to the noun “urination.”  See “urinating.”

direct (as a verb)

NA

Use “tell.”

directly

Use “directly,” “immediately,” or “right away.”

Use “immediately” or “right away.”  Don’t use “directly,” which is an obscure synonym for “immediately.”

discard

Use “discard” or “throw away.”

Use “throw away.”  It’s more conversational.

discontinue

Use “discontinue,” “stop,” or “quit.”

Use “stop” or “quit.”  They are more conversational and both have a single syllable.  “Discontinue” has four syllables and is pretentious.

dosage

NA

Use “dose.”  It’s shorter and easier to understand.

drowsiness

Use “drowsiness” or “the drowsiness effect.”

Use the phrases “may make you drowsy” or “may make you sleepy.”

enlargement of

Use “enlargement of” or “an enlarged.”

Use “get bigger” or “make...bigger.”

except under the advice of a doctor

Use “except under the advice of a doctor,” “unless directed by a doctor,” or “unless told to do so by a doctor.”

Use “unless a doctor tells you to do so.”  The other phrases are in the passive voice, which is harder to understand than the active voice.  The phrase “except under the advice of a doctor” is also hard to understand because it uses a noun (“advice”) instead of a verb (“tells”).

exceed

Use “exceed,” “use more than,” or “go beyond.”

Use the phrases “use more than,” or “go beyond.”

exceed recommended dosage

Use “exceed recommended dosage” or “use more than directed.”

Use the phrases “use / take more than a doctor / the directions tell you to” or “use / take more than the dose you’re supposed to.”  

excessive

Use “excessive” or “too much.”

Use the phrase “too much.”

excitability may occur

Use “excitability may occur” or “you may get excited.”

Use “you may get excited” or “you may get jumpy.”  Don’t use “excitability may occur.”  It’s in the passive voice, and doesn’t reveal where or in whom this excitability may happen (not “occur”).

exposure to the sun

NA

Use “go out in the sun,” “in the sun,” or “while outside in the sun.”

experience

Use “experience” or “feel.”

Use “feel.”  It’s one syllable, as opposed to four.

external use 

NA

Use the phrase “use on the outside of your body.”

following (as in “after”)

NA

Use “after.”  “Following means “after,” but it’s also a verb, as in “following the leader.”  Why risk confusion with the verb, even momentarily?

for relief of

Use “for relief of” or “relieves.”

Use “relieves” or “makes better.”

for temporary reduction of

Use  “for temporary reduction of” or “temporarily reduces.”

Use “temporarily makes smaller” or “temporarily makes better” (as in “temporarily reduces swelling”).

for temporary relief of

Use “for temporary relief of” or “temporarily relieves.”

Use “temporarily relieves” or “temporarily makes better.”

for treatment of

Use “for treatment of” or “treats.”

Use “treats.”  It’s a single word with a single syllable, and is a verb.  Don’t use “for treatment of,” which is three words, with a total of four syllables, and relies on a noun, “treatment.”

frequently

Use “frequently” or “often.”

Use “often.”  It’s shorter and more conversational.

if contact occurs

NA

Use “if you get this in / on.”

if practical

Use “when practical” or “if possible.”

Use “if possible” or “if you can.”

immediately

Use “immediately,” or “as soon as.”

Use “as soon as,” “right away,” “quickly,” or “now” (as in “Call a doctor now”).

immediately following

Use “immediately following” or “right after.”

Use “right after.”  It  has three syllables, as opposed to eight syllables for “immediately following.”

improve

Use “improve,” “get better,” or “make better.”

Use “get better” or “make better.”  A consumer may understand “improve” when it is spoken, but it’s a hard word to read.

increased

Use “increased” or “more.”

Use “more.”

increase your risk of

Use “increase your risk of” or “cause.”

Use “cause” or “make…more likely.”

indications

Use “indications” or “uses.”

Use the word “uses.”  It is shorter and more conversational.  And “indications” is not a synonym for “uses” in everyday language.

ingest

NA

Use “eat” or “swallow.”

ingestion (as in “not intended for ingestion”)

NA

Use “Don’t eat or swallow” or “Use only on the outside of your body.”

inhalation

Use “inhalation” or “puff.”

Use “puff” or “breathe in.”

insert

NA

Use “put in.”

instill

Use “instill” or “put.”

Use “put.”

instruct

NA

Use “tell.”

intended (as in “not intended for ingestion”)

NA

Use the phrase “Don’t use.”  Don’t use the word “intended.”  Whether a product is intended for a certain use is irrelevant if your true aim is that people don’t use it a certain way.

liberally (as in “apply liberally”)

NA

Use “a lot” or “generously,” as in the phrases, “use generously” or “put on a lot.”

minimize

Use “minimize” or “reduce.”

Use “make less” or “make less likely.”

mucous membranes

NA

Use “nose, eyes, mouth, ears,” and if applicable, “vagina and anus.” 

nervousness, dizziness, sleeplessness occurs

Use “nervousness, dizziness, sleeplessness occurs,” or “you get nervous, dizzy, or sleepless.”

Use “you get nervous or dizzy, or you lose sleep.”  Don’t use “nervousness, dizziness, sleeplessness occurs.”  That phrase doesn’t say in whom the conditions occur.  And that phrase depends on nouns.  These particular nouns are longer and harder to understand that the corresponding adjectives (“nervous” and “dizzy”) and verb (“lose sleep”).

not to exceed

Use “not to exceed,” “do not exceed,” or “not more than.”

Use “not more than.”

not to be swallowed

NA

Use “Don’t swallow this.”

obtain

Use “obtain” or “get.”

Use “get.”

occur

NA

Use “happen.”

over-apply

NA

Use the phrases “put too much on” or “put on too much.”

per day

Use “per day” or “daily.”

Use "daily."

perforation of

Use “perforation of” or “hole in.”

Use “hole in.”

persists

Use “persists,” “persistent,” “continues,” “does not go away,” or “lasts.”

Use “continues,” “does not go away,” “lasts,” “stays,” or “still have.”

persistent

Use “persistent,” “that does not go away,” “that continues,” or “that lasts.”

Use “that continues,” “that does not go away,” “that lasts,” “that stays,” or “that you still have.”  Don’t use “persistent.”  It is more complex word than the other phrases.  It is also an adjective, which is harder to understand than a verb. 

physician

Use “physician” or “doctor.”

Use “doctor.”  It’s shorter, more conversational, and easier to read for people who have trouble reading English, including non-native English speakers.  Readers must know how to pronounce “ph”; the “s,” which sounds like a “z”; the “y”; and the “ci,” which sounds like “sh.”

present (as in “redness is present”)

NA

Use “you have redness” or “the child has redness.”

presently

Use “presently” or “now.”

Use “now.”  Don’t use “presently”!  It is three syllables and a less common word than “now.”  More importantly, “presently”  means both “now” and “soon”!  Do you want the consumer to call a doctor now or soon?  If now, say “now.”  If soon, say “soon.”

prior

NA

Use “before.”

produce

Use “produce” or “cause.”

Use “cause,” “lead to,”  or "make." Don’t use “produce.”  It  has a common homograph (as in “fresh produce”) that can cause (not “produce”) confusion.

promptly

Use “promptly,” “quickly,” or “right away.”

Don’t use “promptly,” which is an imprecise word.  Does it mean “now” or “soon”?  Use, as appropriate, “quickly,” “right away,” “as soon as,” or “now.”

pulmonary

Use “pulmonary” or “lung.”

Use “lung.”  It’s not long.

reapply

NA

Use “put on again.”  Don’t use “reapply.”  That’s people  do when they don’t get the job they want.

recur

Use “recur,” “reoccur,” “return,” or “come back.”

Use “return” or “come back.”  They’re more common.

reduce

Use “reduce” or “minimize.” 

Use “make less” or “make less likely.”

seek professional assistance

NA

Use “get medical help” or “contact a doctor.”  Don’t use “seek professional assistance.”  What kind of professional assistance?  Certainly not an accountant.  So just say “medical” or “doctor.”

sensation

Use “sensation” or “feeling”

Use “feeling.”  It’s shorter, easier to read, and more conversational.

solution

Use “solution” or “liquid.”

Use “liquid.”  Don’t use “solution,” which people use more commonly in the context of solving problems.

rectal use

NA

Use the phrase “use on your rectum.”  The noun “rectum” is unfamiliar enough to people.  The adjective “rectal” is less familiar.

tends 

NA

Use “is likely to.”

topical use

NA

Use the phrase “use only on your skin.”

uncertain

Use “uncertain” or “do not know.”

Use “do not know,”  “are unsure,” or “are not sure.”

unless directed by a doctor

Use “unless directed by a doctor,” “except under the advice of a doctor,” or “unless told to do so by a doctor.”

Use “unless a doctor tells you to do so.”  The other phrases are in the passive voice, which is harder to understand than the active voice.  The phrase “except under the advice of a doctor” is also hard to understand because it uses a noun (“advice”) instead of a verb (“tells”).

use caution

Use the phrase “use caution” or “be careful.

Use “be careful.”  It’s easier to read and more conversational.  When you went outside to play as a child, your mother said, “Be careful,” not “Use caution.”

vaginal use

NA

Use the phrase “use on your vagina.”  Don’t use the phrase “vaginal use,” which is a concept.  The phrase “use on your vagina” is concrete.

when practical

Use “when practical” or “if possible.”

Use “if you can.”

worsens

Use “worsens,” “gets worse,” or “makes worse.”

Use “gets worse” or “makes worse.”