The point of saying and writing things is to be understood by your audience.
replyIf I know a given wording is widely misunderstood, to the point I'm planning to immediately follow it with a clarification - often that's a sign it's not a very good wording.
There are exceptions, of course - go ahead and say Cephalopods (things like octopuses and squid) if you're a marine biology educator.
I am pretty sure the term "synergistic" is widely used among laymen as well in the context of supplements and medications.
replySo yeah, sure, context does matter.