I received an excellent question from Geoff, which contains a good reminder for all of us. He wrote:
“In clinical medicine, a physician reading an X-ray may ask the radiographer to ‘cone down’ on a suspicious area, meaning that he/she would like another film that provides a more focused and detailed image of the area of concern. (The term derives from the use of an inverted cone-shaped device that narrows the beam in an old-fashioned X-ray machine.)
“Among clinicians the term is also used more colloquially to mean the same thing as ‘hone in’ [or ‘home in’], for example, ‘We need to cone down on the over-utilization question if we want to solve the cost problem.’
“Is this term [‘cone down’] now used much outside of the world of doctor-speak? Is it intuitive enough to be useful in general conversation?
The answer is no. “Cone down” is not intuitive. Those of us outside the world of medicine have no idea what the phrase means.
Before reading Geoff’s clear explanation, I would have thought of eating an ice cream cone. Or I might have thought he intended “tone down” but had made a typing error.
I congratulate Geoff for asking the question. All of us should ask, “Can _____________ [fill in your jargon] be understood in general business communication?”
Jargon is efficient language. But jargon used outside the realm of the experts who understand is inefficient and incomprehensible. No amount of coning down will help others understand it.
Thanks, Geoff!
Lynn
Syntax Training