What's the Craziest Medical Word/Name You've Learned?

All those ways to describe poo.

My all-time favorite word is dysdiadochokinesia.
defn: inability to perform rapid alternating movements

Not medical words but I think it's cool that there are chemicals named Arsole, Bastardane, Munchnones, Cummingtonite, Dickite, *****ic Acid, Fukalite, Traumatic Acid, Fucitol, Erotic Acid, Lucifer yellow, Fukiic Acid, Clitorin, George and Bi-George, Magic Acid, Snottites, and many more.

Anything with a superfluous "ae"

Orthopaedics, paediatrics, haemophilia, haemoglobin...

i like lumbrical cause it sounds how it looks... all wormy

actually, my fave is really beri-beri, not berryberry, but beri-beri, especially wet beri beri... how ridiculous does that sound?

Got a kick out of Cocksackie virus.

Edit: Did I say Cocksackie? I meant Coxsackie.

Splanchnic!!!!

There is an element called erbium (atomic number 68).

I can't wait to meet up with him after the first set of exams.

tsutsugamushi has to be one of the most fun words that I have learned in medical school. Pronounced "(t)s?t-s&-g&-'m?-shE-", our professor would only say it twice.

peptostreptococcus

unbelievable...we are 11 posts into this thread, and no one has mentioned maybe the most classic name for a muscle in the entire human body...the cremaster

DW said:

unbelievable...we are 11 posts into this thread, and no one has mentioned maybe the most classic name for a muscle in the entire human body...the cremaster

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actually, it's bulbospongiosus. it's got a way more important function to perfrom than the cremaster.

Long Dong said:

All those ways to describe poo.

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How about "hematochezia"?

This one I learned in EMT school...

Priapism: the presence of a persistent, painful erection.

In these days of long-acting impotence drugs, it's amazing you don't hear it more.

It's also sometimes seen when someone has a cervical spinal cord injury. I remember being just tickled to death the first time I saw it since I was going to get to use my favorite word in my report.

Unfortunately for the poor guy, he was never going to walk again. That seems like the ultimate in irony. You have this erection that won't go away, but can't feel it or do anything about it.

Cremaster is a good one, but my all time favorite is gubernaculum

I'm going with sternocleidomastoid...

Mumpu said:

Anything with a superfluous "ae"

Orthopaedics, paediatrics, haemophilia, haemoglobin...

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Not to mention Enterobacteriaeceae, that's got about 3 extra "ae"s that don't need to be there.

It's not wild or crazy but I like the way trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole just rolls off the tongue

Tensor fasciae latae is fun to say. (note the ae)

salpingopharyngeus

I'd say borborygmi

polyemboilokoilamania

(Kid with Smith Mcginnis Syndrome in peds--insertion of objects into multiple orifices)

WHASSUP KUT!

a lot of mine have already been said...but I also like fascia lata...it sounds like a delicious drink

and for you sir?

I'll have a Fascia Lata...lowfat milk please

after a very long hiatus from SDN..since my app year... I come back just to say...Munchausen by Proxy
I just love the way that rolls off the tongue

I'm a fan of helminthemesis. Vomiting worms is pretty hot.

huge nerds

Mine are:

1. "Sausage Finger" - I mean who wants that?!

2. Pemphigous Vulgaris (credit goes to K.G., 1/4 MD)

i like "formication"... thank god someone finally put a name for that all too common feeling that bugs are crawling on you!!

humunculus. I don't know why but it jus sounds funny

Last year, our M1 intramural football team was called the "smooth obturators"

However, IMO the best word ever is "Strategery"

kappasigMD41 said:

Last year, our M1 intramural football team was called the "smooth obturators"

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At Emory a few years ago, they had a female IM team called the "Ovarian Cysters"

We had a softball team I think it was who called themselves the Cobra Chyme.

Personally, I'm a fan of

choledocholithiasis....gall stone in the common bile duct

Mossjoh

Ischial tuberosities--now if you have a kid sitting on your lap and want to tell him/her they have a bony butt, you can use the technical term!

liquor folliculi

I always get a kick out of saying "diplopia-on-ipsilateral-lateral-gaze" as fast as possible

This thread is the best

Ah... my favorite thus far has been gubernaculum, but it was already mentioned... I did also like detrussor and mesosalpinx...

Right now, I'm diggin' extensor digiti minimi (guess this should be a pinky)

Heal&Teach said:

Right now, I'm diggin' extensor digiti minimi (guess this should be a pinky)

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LOL, that's a good one too...as soon as our anatomy prof said that, all I could think was "I shall call him....MINI ME!!!"

Mittelshmirz (mid-cycle ovulatory pain)

DW said:

LOL, that's a good one too...as soon as our anatomy prof said that, all I could think was "I shall call him....MINI ME!!!"

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Actually, our professor just told us a story about that. He was teaching the muscles of the forearm and hand the year that Austin Powers 2 came out, but he hadn't seen the movie yet. So he was a little confused by the uproarious laughter that came from the class (and especially a few residents who were sitting in on the class) as soon as he mentioned that muscle and its action.

You guys have already mentioned my favorite anatomy words...sternocleidomastoid, mastication, salpingopharyngeus, gubernaculum, etc. I guess I should try to be original and add one...tentorium cerebelli sounds kind of cool.

We just started head and neck and this one is just awesome levator labii superiori alaque nasi...

i just wasted much of my lit-search time laughing at your words...

i like scorpionism. obviously the syndromes produced by scorpion stings, but i think it sounds more like a religion that you could burn down a building for... and seabather's eruption. ouch.

also how about tentacular? and just to round it out, how bout this journal name: Wormrunner's Digest. The official title of the journal of planarian research!

Chemguync said:

Splanchnic!!!!

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No way...splanchnopleure for sure...
or hydatidiform mole
or...ready for this...
Camptodactyly-Arthropathy-Coxa vara-Pericarditis Syndrome

How 'bout "Roux-en-Y." Sounds like cajun dish to me.

medstudent2008 said:

Tensor fasciae latae is fun to say. (note the ae)

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spondylolisthesis

I also like poikilocytosis

It's not just one word...but I've always liked the sound of "Tetralogy of Fallot" (even though I didn't know what it meant until this semester!). It sounds like the title of some classic British novel that takes place out on the moors somewhere...but maybe that's just me!

Oh, I'm also a fan of "Mittelschmerz" (the word, not the thing itself!)...and any other medical words that come from other languages, especially German (a recent favorite of mine is "Magenstrasse")...makes me feel as though my many years of language classes weren't all for nothing!

Gubernaculum

we present "learning objectives" twice a week in our small groups & I knew a guy who fit this word into every presentation he gave for our entire first year.

Anybody else like saying mylohyoid???