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members of a lay audience may not understand that an 

evolutionary strategy is not something that the organisms 

are planning to do. So, depending on your intended audi-

ence, you may have to avoid using a shorthand or at least 

explain what the shorthand means. 

 Metonyms can also be used in medical writing, albeit 

cautiously. For example, the word practice is often used as 

a metonym to refer to a type of business in which a medi-

cal practitioner or group of practitioners provide care to 

patients. So, you might use the term “the practice” when 

you want to refer to such a business as a business or when 

you don’t want to specify a particular part of the business. 

For example, you could encourage patients to “contact the 

practice” without specifying which person or even which 

office to contact. Your goal should be clarity. If the patients 

can contact any member of the staff, you can urge them to 

contact the practice.

 In general, you may wish to avoid unnecessary use  

of figurative language in a technical report, such as a 

clinical study protocol—especially if it is going to be 

translated. However, there is considerably more room for 

literary inventiveness in an opinion piece. In such pieces, 

authors may wish to express their own emotions and to 

evoke emotions in the audience, especially to underscore 

the importance and urgency of their message. In that  

situation, the writer may use figurative language for  

rhetorical effect. 

Learn More
Metaphors, similes, and metonyms are not the only 

forms of figurative language. The Silva Rhetoricae Web 

site (http://rhetoric.byu.edu/), maintained by Dr Gideon 

Burton of Brigham Young University, provides an extensive 

list of figures of speech, all of which are named, defined, 

and categorized. Many of these rhetorical figures have 

Greek or Latin names because they have been recognized 

since classical times to be valuable in persuasion. 

Author declaration and disclosures: The author notes no commer-
cial associations that may pose a conflict of interest in relation to 
this article.

Author contact: www.nottrivialbook.com; lthomas521@verizon.net 

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Trends and Opportunities for Medical Communicators

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