Happy New Year to everyone!
Every area of knowledge comes with its own vocabulary, including the field of medicine. Unfortunately, I think patients have learned to use certain words with a newer broad definition without realizing that it has a very specific meaning. Some examples would be "wheezing" "croupy" and "lethargic".
Doc Smitty at Cook Children's Hospital has a great post about what a "croupy" cough really means and what to do about it.
"croupy" cough