They may know intuitively what a browser is, but they don't always know it as a "browser". When I did public-facing tech support, I found I encountered much less confusion when I told people to "pull up Google" or "go to Yahoo" versus "start your browser".

Doing tech support work interacting with the generally computer non-literate is like civil service for the tech world. It's not pleasant but it expands your perspective, and many HN readers would do well to go through it.