Medical Terminology as Spoken by the Layperson...

[MedicCCTRN]

...And what the heck, please tell me, is a SONTAMETER? Is this a centimeter when measured by a radiologist? A surgical elitist revision of the metric system? What gives? "As you can plainly see, the seven SONTAMETER / SONAMETER mass is easily appreciated in the patient's liver.."
Give me a break!

Back when I was Paramedic Intructor, the RN that managed the program used that term (she had heard some impressive physician use it). Drove me crazy, especially since she demanded our students use correct medical terminology. Finally one day when she was in the room I was asked by a student how to spell rhinorhitis (hell I don't even know if that's the correct spelling or not.) I replied r-u-n-n-y-n-o-s-e. The horrified student responded that the RN insisted that they use the correct medical term. I said fine. "Tell her that there is no s-o-n in centimeter." That kinda stuff irks me. Like medical professionals who say "tra-KEE-uh", or "Cer-VIKE-al"

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[cowbydoc]

I had a pt during OB that told me she was naming her child after the Biblical Aaron only she was spelling it as AA'ryon. Think of it, an african american kid with the pronuncation of arian. All he needed was his middle name to be Nathan.
To make it a little worse his middle name had another apostrophe, I guess one just wasn't enough.

 

[Sessamoid]

I had a pt during OB that told me she was naming her child after the Biblical Aaron only she was spelling it as AA'ryon. Think of it, an african american kid with the pronuncation of arian. All he needed was his middle name to be Nathan.
To make it a little worse his middle name had another apostrophe, I guess one just wasn't enough.

If you look earlier in this thread (or maybe it was another one), I had a young African American kid patient whose name was also "Aryan" only that's exactly the way it was spelled.

Better than "Nathan" for a middle name would be spelling it "N'Shaun".

 

[tonem]

My favorite was a young couple that named their newborn son Dominic...Dom for short. Only trouble was their last name was Phoc....we tried to convince them to change it but they wouldn't budge.

 

[Andy Kahn]

I have heard larynx and pharynx pronounced "larra necks" and "ferra necks"

 

[Jeff698]

I have heard larynx and pharynx pronounced "larra necks" and "ferra necks"

Yeah, and by anatomy faculty at that.

Take care,
Jeff

 

[ekydrd]

My fave in pronounciation goes to one of our faculty who says "ca PILL ary". Drove us all nuts when ever she was lecturing on the circulatory system.

Also, has anyone ever heard of "asset ah men O fen"?

 

[Jeff698]

Also, has anyone ever heard of "asset ah men O fen"?

Yeah, by the same faculty who says "i BU profen"

Take care,
Jeff

 

[Sessamoid]

Yeah, by the same faculty who says "i BU profen"

Take care,
Jeff

Which is actually the correct pronunciation.

 

[leviathan]

Which is actually the correct pronunciation.

Yep. Check it out at dictionary.com:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ibuprofen

 

[Febrifuge]

Err, sorry to bust out all Liberal Arts on you, but I took a class in Phonetics once. Dictionary.com has the accent mark on the PRO syllable. Not the BYOO syllable.

Without having the special phonetic symbols, I'll just say that the website has it as "eye-byoo-PRO-fen."

 

[leviathan]

Err, sorry to bust out all Liberal Arts on you, but I took a class in Phonetics once. Dictionary.com has the accent mark on the PRO syllable. Not the BYOO syllable.

Without having the special phonetic symbols, I'll just say that the website has it as "eye-byoo-PRO-fen."

Heh, I must have misinterpreted the phonetic symbols. Wishing I had taken more Liberal Arts

 

[Sessamoid]

From Mosby's drug consult (which it looks like they took from the original package insert):


Ibuprofen(001520)
[ eye-byoo'-proe-fen ]


I think it's listed that way in the PDR as well, but the PDR isn't available on-line, and I don't own a paper copy. I got this listing off of mdconsult.com. I've seen it in print elsewhere too, but nobody's ever pronounced it that way that I know of. Dictionary.com is going to usually have the generally accepted pronunciation in current use.

 

[Eme-RG-ency]

Another favorite is my "pee pee pill" also known as "Laser."

 

[ekydrd]

On a related note, have you noticed the number of people who pronounce "defibrillator" "defribulator"? It seems pretty common.

It's like nucular vs. nuclear

 

[ekydrd]

Let me guess...Chlamydia?

Actually it is the other common STD, with the accent on the second syllable.

 

[Apollyon]

Actually it is the other common STD, with the accent on the second syllable.

Si-FILL-is? chan-KROID? Oh no...

Gah-NOR-ia? Horrible.

I hope there's not a sibling - "his name is N. Men - but we call him the 'coccus".

 

[MedicCCTRN]

Had one the other day, pt stated he was at facility for a "colonstrophe" and in his history he mentioned to our anethesiologist that he had had a previous
"fishkilla"

 

[USAF MD '05]

fistula...lol!! It took me a sec, but I got it!! Steve

 

[TomC727]

This thread is awesome. I can't count how many times working as a tech I heard some of these terms. The best one I think is "I fell out" and "I was minding my own business" (at 3 in the morning at a corner frequented by drug dealers)

 

[MedicCCTRN]

Speaking of medical colleagues that use strange terms line "sonameter" I hate it when nurses refer to the physician as "doctor" as though that is the doc's name. ie. "Doctor will be with you in a minute." "Doctor is with another pt now." "Doctor is awating her in OR." It harks back to the 1800's or something. It's just weird. How hard is it to add the doc's name?

 

[deuist]

I love this thread. I'll gotten a few, "I take the red pill," patients before. But just to clarify, what does "fell out" mean?

 

[blotto geltaco]

Technically the term is "done fell out" or DFO for short. Frequently happens in church, on street corners, and is more common in hot weather.

The other I was rounding w/ a Russian attending who asked the pt. if he had been coughing, or bringing up any "flurm". I actually laughed out loud. At least he didn't pronounce it "fleem".

 

[Sessamoid]

I love this thread. I'll gotten a few, "I take the red pill," patients before. But just to clarify, what does "fell out" mean?

Syncope.

 

[FlemishGiant]

Can't take direct credit for this one:

"Goddammit what are you stupid? I want my Juice motherf**ker! Here let me spell it out for you: J-O-O-S-E, Juice motherf**ker!"
-Quote taken from a thirsty patient in a local county ED

 

[docB]

I just spent the last 20 minutes getting to the bottom of this one:

Pt states he's on a "fish pill for his heart." I note that he's in afib and ask if he's on any blood thinners. He says no, just the fish pill. I assumed he's taking one of those OTC fish oil caps for the omega acids. I get his records and go back and tell him that he's on Coumadin and that it's a blood thinner. He says "Yeah that's the fish pill." Turns out that his PMD said Coumadin and he heard it as "cod medicine" which he translated into "fish pill." New one on me.

 

[r124c41]

"...he's on Coumadin and that it's a blood thinner...." You refer to warfarin, an anti-coagulent, as a "blood-thinner" and yet you're surprised that an uneducated layman is confused? Just how much detail about its advantages and dangers do you think he was provided when he was advised to start using it?

 

[docB]

"...he's on Coumadin and that it's a blood thinner...." You refer to warfarin, an anti-coagulent, as a "blood-thinner" and yet you're surprised that an uneducated layman is confused? Just how much detail about its advantages and dangers do you think he was provided when he was advised to start using it?

So what's your point? That it's not pharmacologically precise to use the term "blood thinner?" That's about as plain English as it gets. In the ER it's all about sugar pills, water pills and pressure pills. Do you think he'd be less confused if I called it an "anti-coagulent" and briefed him on the clotting cascades? As to what his PMD told him when he started on it I have no idea.

 

[beanbean]

Good work on the 'fish pill' translation DocB!

I have heard Coumadin refered to as 'my pill to keep me thin". What do you take for a diet pill?????

 

[r124c41]

In "about as plain English as it gets", "sugar pills" control sugar, "water pills" reduce water retention, and "pressure pills" reduce blood pressure. So of course, again in "about as plain English as it gets", "blood thinners" should thin blood, right? Ooops. Unfortunately, in the South especially, having 'thin blood' means your either anemic or at least have a low tolerance for cold weather. Why anyone would want to continue taking a pill that caused 'thin blood' would be a bit of a medical mystery in itself. Can we spell 'non-compliance'? Since you think "anti-coagulent" is too high-falootin' for your clientele [but hell, who isn't familiar with the process of scab formation since they were 5 years old ...?], how about saying "bleeding pills"? At least then, when they're bleeding from a scalp lac, they'll be less inclined to take a couple of aspirins and lay down with a 'wash rag' on it to sleep off the pain.

 

[r124c41]

...or, with all due respect to the Union men among us, how about calling them "anti-scab" pills?

 

[Sessamoid]

...or, with all due respect to the Union men among us, how about calling them "anti-scab" pills?

We could just call them "bleed-to-death" pills.

 

[ekydrd]

Si-FILL-is? chan-KROID? Oh no...

Gah-NOR-ia? Horrible.

I hope there's not a sibling - "his name is N. Men - but we call him the 'coccus".

You got it on the 3rd try. Yes, that really is the poor kids name. No siblings (yet).

 

[MedicCCTRN]

Got another one. Yesterday one of my colleagues was told by a pt when she asked about any surgeries during her H&P. The pt replied " Not my regular bladder, but I had my goldbladder taken out." For the rest of the day when we passed each other we sing in our best Shirely Bassey voice. "Goldbladder! tah ta tah!" or "He pees gold! he pees only gold!"

 

[digitiminimi]

I think medical slang is great because we get to feel like our patients when we tell them they have bacterial vaginosis and they look at us like we have 3 heads. These are the standard medical terms in thier communities and we need to know them and then laugh about them.

Thank you! The people complaining and making such a big deal about this must be holier than me. To think that they have never misunderstood someone and laughed at what they said or chuckled at something that just "came out wrong." Surely they aren't being hippocritical are they? Besides ... when people speak in slang and I don't get it right off the bat, it is more myself that I am laughing at than them for my misunderstanding them. I'm sure they laugh at us for some of the crazy medical jargon that we use too. It's all about communication.

Down here in the "heart of the south," there is no certain ethnic group to which this pertains. Its more of a REGIONAL ... not RACIAL thing. Different geographical areas ALL have their own indigenous slangs.

 

[fuzzyerin]

I've had a mother tell me their child "musta caught asthma again." I spent a good 20 minutes explaining to the mother that the child has asthma, and that it doesn't go away, and that's why he has to take medicine every day. Didn't matter, next time I saw her, the kid was still non-compliant with meds and she told me he "musta caught that asthma again."

 

[DOrk]

We could just call them "bleed-to-death" pills.

How about just calling them rat poison?

 

[sdnetrocks]

I've always thought "Clopidogrel" would be a pretty name.

 

[f_w]

Great thread, 150+ posts and only minor flame wars.

I'll just add a little story from my internship in a NYC public hospital tying the liberal use of articles, cryptic place names and diseases together.

Scene:
Postpartum patient, in isolation for MRSA endocarditis. Me (little intern) is sent to give her the bad news that as long as her temp doesn't come down and her sputum smears stay positive for AFB, she wouldn't be allowed to see her newborn (which had tested +tive for 3 of the 5 illicit drugs on our panel and 5/5 of the congenital infections)
A sentence out of that conversation has stayed etched into my brain: 'When I was on dah island , they gave me them pinicin shots in dah bottoms. They said I had sisifis on de head !' ('island referring to Rikers, not Long, not Staten)

 

[Apollyon]

Great thread, 150+ posts and only minor flame wars.

I'll just add a little story from my internship in a NYC public hospital tying the liberal use of articles, cryptic place names and diseases together.

Scene:
Postpartum patient, in isolation for MRSA endocarditis. Me (little intern) is sent to give her the bad news that as long as her temp doesn't come down and her sputum smears stay positive for AFB, she wouldn't be allowed to see her newborn (which had tested +tive for 3 of the 5 illicit drugs on our panel and 5/5 of the congenital infections)
A sentence out of that conversation has stayed etched into my brain: 'When I was on dah island , they gave me them pinicin shots in dah bottoms. They said I had sisifis on de head !' ('island referring to Rikers, not Long, not Staten)

I know what hospital you were at!!

 

[Sessamoid]

Great thread, 150+ posts and only minor flame wars.

I'll just add a little story from my internship in a NYC public hospital tying the liberal use of articles, cryptic place names and diseases together.

Scene:
Postpartum patient, in isolation for MRSA endocarditis. Me (little intern) is sent to give her the bad news that as long as her temp doesn't come down and her sputum smears stay positive for AFB, she wouldn't be allowed to see her newborn (which had tested +tive for 3 of the 5 illicit drugs on our panel and 5/5 of the congenital infections)
A sentence out of that conversation has stayed etched into my brain: 'When I was on dah island , they gave me them pinicin shots in dah bottoms. They said I had sisifis on de head !' ('island referring to Rikers, not Long, not Staten)

"Sisyphus" on the brain? She should be forced to push a big ass boulder up a hill for eternity for being so stupid and evil.

 

[docdoc]

I was a veterinarian for four years before I came to medical school. I had a lady present her dog for an examination with the chief complaint that the dogs VOLVO was swollen.

 

[Jeff698]

I was a veterinarian for four years before I came to medical school. I had a lady present her dog for an examination with the chief complaint that the dogs VOLVO was swollen.

Damn, I'm jealous. My dog only has a broken down Buick that she 'shares' with me!

Take care,
Jeff

 

[f_w]

> Sisyphus" on the brain? She should be forced to push a big ass boulder
> up a hill for eternity for being so stupid and evil.

She wasn't evil, just someone who had made a series of bad choices in her life. Most involved the use of crack cocaine and the business model she engaged in to support this 'medication' need. At the point I met her, I think some of the infectious agents she was harboring (including sysiphos) had gotten to her mental abilities.

 

[docB]

> Sisyphus" on the brain? She should be forced to push a big ass boulder
> up a hill for eternity for being so stupid and evil.

She wasn't evil, just someone who had made a series of bad choices in her life. Most involved the use of crack cocaine and the business model she engaged in to support this 'medication' need. At the point I met her, I think some of the infectious agents she was harboring (including sysiphos) had gotten to her mental abilities.

Sessamoid was alluding to Sisyphus, the mythological character who was punished by the gods by making him push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down when he reached the top for all eternity. All ER docs have a Sisyphus complex.

 

[f_w]

> Sessamoid was alluding to Sisyphus, the mythological character who
> was punished by the gods by making him push a

Gee thanks, I guess I slept through 4 years of latin classes.

 

[trauma_junky]

I may have posted this one before. "When hes was 3, he got dat smilin mighty jesus." Translation= Spinal Meningitis

 

[trauma_junky]

We could just call them "bleed-to-death" pills.

Those are neat pills. They are made of lead with a brass case. They must be past their 7 year patent because there is multiple manufactures with all different sizes and Pb doesing. The best part is the auto-injector required to administer these pills. It comes in many fashions and dosing packets. My favorite is the Nickel plated 6-pill revolver in the .38 Pb pills. The neat thing about these pills is they can be given enterally or parenterally. You only have to worry about first pass metabolism is you inject in the ULQ, but even then this tends to not be an issue for the immediate effects are felt with in seconds.

 

[sunny123]

Let us not forget about the every popular request for a "samich"
Those lovely bread and meat/cheese combos available for patients who need so nourishment while waiting for their toothpain/ stubbed toe to be examined.

We call them sangwiches

 

[jen628]

funny, funny schtuff.

i love the way some people think ibuprofen and acetaminophen make you drowsy like narcotics.

one patient said,"Them 'profens really knocked me out."

another, when I asked if the tylenol she took helped her pain, said, "I don't know, it put me to sleep." Then the answer is YES.