Understanding how the general public uses sci ence terminology during disasters has implications for improving communication between disaster experts and the public and for informing efforts de signed to cultivate science literacy. This study pre sents an analysis of quotes in U.S. newspaper and newswire articles from people who identified the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami either as a tidal wave or as a tsunami immediately after the disas ter. Quotes from 147 individuals were assigned codes based on their location, nationality, and con nection to the event. Individuals coded as experts (n = 16) only uttered tsunami. Englishspeaking non-tsunami experts in impacted countries were significantly more likely to identify the tsunami as a tidal wave than were individuals in nonimpacted countries. Of 31 quoted non-tsunami experts who were in an impacted country, 52% described the disaster as a tidal wave; only 2% of distal non-tsu nami experts (n = 100) uttered tidal wave. Of partic ular note, four of ten quoted tourists from the U.S. who experienced the tsunami uttered tidal wave, whereas none of 27 quoted residents in the U.S. did so. Our results suggest that even if people are aware of appropriate terminology, many individuals will utter more familiar, colloquial, and linguistically simpler words instead of more accurate terminol ogy, especially when experiencing elevated levels of stress, such as during the aftermath of a disaster. The implication for disaster communication efforts is that while a term that was once considered jar gon can become widely known and adopted, many people will resort to a more familiar term unless the scientific jargon resonates with their personal, con ceptual image of the disaster.