EM Slang Dictionary

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

GoBuckeyes913

Intoxicating
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
372
Reaction score
25
We all have our witty terms.... I'll start, this will be fun :)


Turkocet: Turkey sandwich + Percocet

Example-
Homeless man comes to ED after getting his foot run over by a taxi
Patient: Doc, I'm in PAIN, yo can I can somethin', my foot is killin' me! And I gotta get me somethin' to eat.
Doc: Sure, hang on. (to nurse) "Patient needs a turkocet"




Please add on!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Septicize - to do BCx, UCx and CSF Cx on a neonate under 6 weeks old.

"Nurse, we need to septicize the kiddo in 24."
 
crazy patient walks into the ER goin ballistic....

doc: "give him 5 & 2"

=5 mg Haldol, 2mg of ativan

nice cocktail!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
g2grn: Nurse get this guy out of my ER now!

h&w: hydrate and watch, the standard treatment for the ETOH prone

The "D" word: One of the two pain meds that if you mention to me, you usually loose all your credibility as someone who is actually sick.
 
crazy patient walks into the ER goin ballistic....

doc: "give him 5 & 2"

=5 mg Haldol, 2mg of ativan

nice cocktail!


AKA "haldovan"
 
Corpsicle: dead guy found in a snowbank.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Lovers cocktail: 2g flagyl, 125 mg IM ceftriaxone, 7d doxycyline.
 
One I've lifted from a poster to this very forum:

CCFCCP = cuckoo for cocoa puffs

Used to describe obviously crazy, but not quite differentiated psych patients.

"I'm not sure what his underlying disorder is, but that guy is CCFCCP."
 
Last edited:
ALCP- a la casa pronto- i.e. that pt needs to go alcp. The hispanic equivalent of "to the house" or "out the door".
 
tachy-aye syndrome (aka: status hispanicus) "Aye aye aye aye aye"

and the related

Polylordy syndrome "Lordy lordy lordy lordy"
 
Percocetopenia - common diagnosis in chronic pain patients.
 
More specific to the over-educated than EM:

lecturalgia: the name for a painful lecture.

For example: "That was a lecturalgia-inducing talk on renal potassium transport"
 
Holy water IV

For a patient that is or should die pronto
 
One I've lifted from a poster to this very forum:

CCFCCP = cuckoo for cocoa puffs

Used to describe obviously crazy, but not quite differentiated psych patients.

"I'm not sure what his underlying disorder is, but that guy is CCFCCP."

Yay!!! I made the list!:laugh:

I still think my personal favorites are the "O" sign and the "Q" sign. For those who may not know, the "O" sign is when a patient is sick enough that they're lying in bed with they're mouth wide open. This is followed by the decompensating "Q" sign... Think of the "O" sign but add the tongue.

Another one I liked that isn't really EM specific was from one of my attendings talking about one of the many hospital-induced medical problems: "Iatrogenica Fulminans."
 
crazy patient walks into the ER goin ballistic....

doc: "give him 5 & 2"

=5 mg Haldol, 2mg of ativan

nice cocktail!

I've heard that called a "B-52"
 
Last edited:
Dactylithiasis - an important physical exam finding for you single guys
 
I've heard that called a "B-52"

Around these parts it's called 5-2-1: vitamin H, ativan, benztropine

Vitamin H = Haldol

LTD = living the dream. "What's up Roger?" "LTD, you?" "Same"

Stevie Wonder diagnosis = obvious radiological finding even a blind person could probably point out

lookit sign = big arrow on PACS pointing at finding. Often combined with above
 
Last edited:
Clearly none of you take your job seriously
 
and that makes them bad doctors!
 
TDTF = too drunk to fish

No such thing.


I laughed out loud at "Lover's cocktail."

I still think "FLK" or "funny looking kid" is up there with our most useful phrases. It presents so much info in three short letters.

I would never dare to actually use "status hispanicus" in public but it is perfectly descriptive.
 
pertinent reading:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3159813.stm

TTFO = "Told to go away"
This is discouraging (from the above article about medicine in the UK):

The increasing rate of litigation means that there is a far higher chance that doctors will be asked in court to explain the exact meaning of [an acronym].

I thought our socialist colleagues were shielded from the horrors of med mal. Not to hijack but bummer.
 
D-bomb: Droperidol. As in "if she doesn't calm the F down I'm going to drop the D bomb."

Samich: This is the drunken, slurred pronunciation for a "sandwich"

Trollwich: This is what we feed our frequent customers, usually when they ask for a samich. (not any different from a sandwich---we're not that mean).

Fall out: This is a term frequently used by a particular ethnicity that I didn't have much experience with before I moved to Cincinnati. I have learned that it typically means a person, usually a woman, often elderly, had a near syncope (or pseudo-syncope) often in the setting of intense emotions.

Baby-daddy: Another term I hear quite a bit in Cincinnati, often from young teenage moms. For example, my baby daddy done this or my baby daddy done that.

Vomiking: Many use this as a synonym to vomiting. However, the last patient I specifically asked to explain what vomiking was in relation to vomiting stated that vomiking is when it also comes our your nose!
 
Last edited:
I love the vomicking one. CC vomiking:
Pt: Well I woke up and vomiked and came straight here.

BBMF: bone broke me fix (ortho consent form)

BST: bull $h!t test usually offering a foley cath sorts out the sick from the non sick (at least according to house)
 
and that makes them bad doctors!


tsk. especially that docB. Sedating patients. what kind of world do we live in? :eek:
 
tsk. especially that docB. Sedating patients. what kind of world do we live in? :eek:

Sedatives are good. Patient happier, nurse happier, I'm happier. Fortunately my patients have trained their systems to be able to metabolize huge quantities of narcs and benzos at supersonic speed so I can put them down and they're ready to go before my shift is over.
 
I've heard that called a "B-52"

I thought a B-52 includes 50 of benadryl; hence the "B"


Also, I thought it was "tachylordia" not "Polylordia"?

Don't forget the PJC's (premature Jesus complexes) -- "Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Jesus............... Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy"

You can tell a PJC versus a JFB (Jesus fusion beat) by the compensatory pause; Compare: "Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Jesus, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy"
 
LOLINAD : little old lady in no apparent distress
 
Don't forget the PJC's (premature Jesus complexes) -- "Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Jesus............... Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy"

You can tell a PJC versus a JFB (Jesus fusion beat) by the compensatory pause; Compare: "Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Jesus, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy"

This just reminded me of another one....
"Go to Jesus" = similar to Circling the drain.... "She needs to go to Jesus"
 
Sedatives are good. Patient happier, nurse happier, I'm happier. Fortunately my patients have trained their systems to be able to metabolize huge quantities of narcs and benzos at supersonic speed so I can put them down and they're ready to go before my shift is over.


:D I know. I wonder secretly if there is a part of me that doesn't work right. I have perfected my sedation technique. I teach all how to pin down, insert IV and sedate. (IM takes WAY to long) :cool:

(note to self: sarcasm is not an effective in online forums.):laugh:
 
elderly patients often get one of the following workups

G: CBC, BMP, cardiac enzymes, UA, CXR, EKG
Hot G: the above plus blood cultures
G with a spin: G plus a CT
 
polyringia. How often do you see someone wearing more than 2 (maybe 3 if a wedding band combo is included) rings who is not crazy.
 
Stevie Wonder diagnosis = obvious radiological finding even a blind person could probably point out
I've heard this one called a "Janitor's Fracture." The idea being, a guy who went to a year of junior college before deciding to pursue other opportunities can look into the pit from where he's mopping the hallway floor and say "hey, look, there's a break right there."
 
Yay!!! I made the list!:laugh:

I still think my personal favorites are the "O" sign and the "Q" sign. For those who may not know, the "O" sign is when a patient is sick enough that they're lying in bed with they're mouth wide open. This is followed by the decompensating "Q" sign... Think of the "O" sign but add the tongue.

."

and from my favorite neurologist:
the dotted Q sign...when a fly lands on the tongue and the pt doesn't notice....baaaaad prognosis.....
 
Top