One of the challenges of working in any service/repair industry is getting your customer to accurately communicate his or her needs. Many firearms owners may not possess the training or knowledge to describe failures and malfunctions using "proper terminology", and it is useful for the gunsmith or armorer to know how to direct the conversation when the customer says, "the bullets just won't come out".

Conduct personal research to answer the following prompt. You may use online discussion boards, talk with friends and family, or reflect on your own experience.

Choose three of the following malfunctions and list colloquial, lay-person, or "slang" terms used to communicate them. For each lay-person's term, explain why someone might describe a malfunction that way.

failure to fire

failure to extract

failure to eject

failure to cock