<p>I am writing about a sport I do for my college essay, and I have to use terms for the sport(equipment names, etc) that an admissions officer might not understand. How should I go around this?</p>
<p>I am writing about fencing, and I need another word for ‘blade’ as it’s used too much in my essay (I’m writing about a match I had once). The technical term is ‘foil’. Do I need to dumb it down and use ‘sword’ (which sounds odd), or is the term ‘foil’ for a blade known enough?</p>
<p>weapon lol</p>
<p>I think the term ‘foil’ is well enough understood. You could make it clearer in one of your sentences if you are worried - e.g. “the blade, or foil”…</p>
<p>AmicaMom has it right—introduce the term, and I think you should be good to go.</p>
<p>c’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Savvy adults know what a freaking foil is. But remember, the essay is not about the fencing equipment, what it does how it slices through the air or who thrusts and parries. It’s supposed to reveal something about you, your personal qualities that adcoms need in their freshman class.</p>