I find myself saying "community-owned independent social media sites" rather than "fediverse" in mixed company because it gets a much better reaction (active interest rather than blank stares)
I realize that the venn diagram of the two does not overlap perfectly but the overlap is precisely the stuff I actually care about and I'd rather be inaccurate in a way that garners interest than similarly-inaccurate in a way that doesn't
@darius COISMS! (Thought I might have something for the first 3 letters...)