pronounce it right

[DocEspana]

Drives me crazy when doctors start using ridiculous medical pronunciations. I realize some of them have history... but... seriously. Some of them are ridiculous. List some terms that doctors seem to always pronounce oddly and, if anyone can, tell me why the heck they do that.

Vesicle becomes vee-sick-il
Centimeter becomes sahnt-ah-meter
Absence becomes ahb-sahn

and of course

student doctor becomes rez-ih-dentz-bich

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[cpants]

Drives me crazy when doctors start using ridiculous medical pronunciations. I realize some of them have history... but... seriously. Some of them are ridiculous. List some terms that doctors seem to always pronounce oddly and, if anyone can, tell me why the heck they do that.

Vesicle becomes vee-sick-il
Centimeter becomes sahnt-ah-meter
Absence becomes ahb-sahn

and of course

student doctor becomes rez-ih-dentz-bich

Always hated sohntimeter. I think it has something to do with cent sounding like other decimal prefixes. Absence is french, I think because they were described first by a french doc. Never heard veesickil. Personally I hate umbi-like-us.

 

[Anonymous01]

[editing for some anonymity]

 

[DocEspana]

1. English isn't everyone's first language. You should try learning 2-3 languages before English and then seeing how much inflection and pronunciation you end up carrying between the languages. I'm surprised you've never heard of people with accents seeing that you're in Manhattan.

2. Why does this bother you so much? You understand what they're saying, and the message is conveyed. I suggest you spend more time learning about how to interact with and treat others rather than criticizing how they say words.

This isn't an accent thing. This is everyone (long term african americans doctors, white american doctors, asian doctors, caribbean doctors) all saying it the same way and it just blows my mind because we're told its just "the medical pronunciation".

And it only bothers me because every last doctor has a different story as to why everyone else does it. I've heard french doctors invented x procedure and y assessment so they get to keep the pronunciation. Which is silly because while centimeter and absent are words in french, umbilicus and vesicle aren't and they use that excuse for those words too. I've heard that it sounds too much like other metric terms when you say "centi" instead of "sahntah" but the only metrics ever used in medicine are centi and milli. I dont think those sound alike at all. I've heard surgeons say its an internist only thing. I've heard internists say its a surgeon-only thing. Most amusingly, I've heard pathologists tell me that only pathologists say it (self loathing or ego, i cant tell).

This isn't really bothering me. I just find it really funny that doctors who speak fine english and say everything with no accent suddenly put on an accent for random english words. Or even more funny, doctors with heavy accents put on french accents ontop of their accents to say these words properly. And yet no one can explain why.

 

[iwumd07]

From lots of American, non-accent-otherwise, docs I work with:

Duodenum: doo-oh-deeeee-num; also, doo-oh-dent-um

Capillary: cah-pill-ery

Ischemia: ishhhh-ee-mee-yuh

Protein: pro-tee-in

Diabetes: die-uh-beed-us

 

[C5toC9]

DE-tail vs de-TAIL

PRE-sentation vs preSENtation

 

[DrDrToBe]

Drives me crazy when doctors start using ridiculous medical pronunciations. I realize some of them have history... but... seriously. Some of them are ridiculous. List some terms that doctors seem to always pronounce oddly and, if anyone can, tell me why the heck they do that.

Vesicle becomes vee-sick-il
Centimeter becomes sahnt-ah-meter
Absence becomes ahb-sahn

and of course

student doctor becomes rez-ih-dentz-bich

Just a note that the correct pronunciation when you're talking about absence seizures is "ahb-sahnce" (you don't say "ab-sense" seizure).

 

[BBender716]

 

[DocEspana]

Just a note that the correct pronunciation when you're talking about absence seizures is "ahb-sahnce" (you don't say "ab-sense" seizure).

oh this point has been made ad nauseum to me. Unfortunately its by the same people who don't appreciate my fellow students "ahb-sahs-es" from class. They cant drop the accent one they start. must be an infectious etiology of attendings.

 

[DrDrToBe]

oh this point has been made ad nauseum to me. Unfortunately its by the same people who don't appreciate my fellow students "ahb-sahs-es" from class. They cant drop the accent one they start. must be an infectious etiology of attendings.

Lol that's funny

 

[Stixman28]

Lol that's funny

Heard this one from a canadian lecturer last week. I could not believe my ears. then i went to merriam webster only to find out its legit:

-advertisement pronounced : ad-vértis-mint

the second speaker is this pronunciation:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertisement


I do prefer to say án-gin-a as opposed to an-GINE-a. rolls off the tongue a little smoother.

 

[MossPoh]

My dad says the sahntuhmeter thing, but only in the medical context. It is like a magical switch that turns off when he is home. I never understood it.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Um-bil-EYE-cus versus um-bil-icus

 

[JokerMD]

asdf

 

[deleted191570]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/melena

The dictionary says the correct pronunciation for "melena" is different from the way I've heard everyone else say it.

And what was wrong with "duodenum"?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/duodenum


And the one no one seems to be able to figure out: "Raphe"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/raphe

 

[Ibn Rushd]

res-PIRE-atory as opposed to res-pir-a-tory

 

[hrandani]

Wait, what? I always heard vesicle that way. What's the right way?

 

[surftheiop]

lol try going to engineering school, my favorite is from Indian professors

determine = Det-Ter-Mine

 

[lildave2586]

you check your blood sugar and you check it OFTEN!

 

[DocEspana]

Wait, what? I always heard vesicle that way. What's the right way?

VEE-sick-uhls
vs
VEH-seh-kuhls. The first syllable is very noticeably different, but the second syllable is also changed too for some reason i cant understand (I guess once you dedicate yourself to over stressing the first syllable you might as well super enunciate the others too)

 

[BBender716]

you check your blood sugar and you check it OFTEN!

There's no reason not to!

 

[bomgd3]

Has anyone else heard born-and-bred Americans pronouncing "platelets" as "plat-ey-lets"? I think it's easy enough: plate + let. Plate shaped small cells. And yet, two of my American professors pronounce it wrong, and regardless of how many correct pronunciations they have heard throughout their lifetimes, and regardless of how high their IQ's and level of education are, they STILL PRONOUNCE IT WRONG.

 

[Slack3r]

I suggest you spend more time learning about how to interact with and treat others rather than criticizing how they say words.

 

[christina30]

I have a professor who pronounces putamen like "Pootamin"

i hate it, it sounds disgusting.

 

[whouse]

This isn't necessarily a pronunciation thing, but a peeve nonetheless. What's the deal with calling illustrations "cartoons?" It seems like for the past few years every time a professor shows a diagram or illustration they say, "you'll notice in this CARTOON....."

Listen, Bugs Bunny is a cartoon. The signaling cascade of a g-coupled protein receptor is shown in a drawing. Call it a diagram. Call it an illustration. Call it a drawing (if you're a Brit or Mike Myers, call it a drawring), but please, for the love of all that is holy, don't call it a cartoon.

Thank you and good night.

 

[b-real]

Rales: it's "rahls" not "rayles." If you can't pronounce it, just say crackles, damnit.

 

[Funky]

Those all aren't so bad.
The worst is this one professor pronounces WH- words with an H in the beginning like while = hwile. white = hwite

 

[Knicks]

Good post, OP. Agreed.


Question: how are these SUPPOSED to be pronounced?....

-Femoral.
-Inguinal.

 

[b-real]

Good post, OP. Agreed.


Question: how are these SUPPOSED to be pronounced?....

-Femoral.
-Inguinal.

femoral: rhymes with "ephemeral" (fem-er-uhl)
inguinal: ing-gwuh-nul

 

[Funky]

Good post, OP. Agreed.


Question: how are these SUPPOSED to be pronounced?....

-Femoral.
-Inguinal.

I prounounce it FEM-oral and IN-guinal

btw I hope we get melo quick without losing much

 

[DocEspana]

This isn't necessarily a pronunciation thing, but a peeve nonetheless. What's the deal with calling illustrations "cartoons?" It seems like for the past few years every time a professor shows a diagram or illustration they say, "you'll notice in this CARTOON....."

Listen, Bugs Bunny is a cartoon. The signaling cascade of a g-coupled protein receptor is shown in a drawing. Call it a diagram. Call it an illustration. Call it a drawing (if you're a Brit or Mike Myers, call it a drawring), but please, for the love of all that is holy, don't call it a cartoon.

Thank you and good night.

two thumbs up to this comment

 

[DocEspana]

I prounounce it FEM-oral and IN-guinal

btw I hope we get melo quick without losing much

1) IN-gwin-uhl and feh-MOR-ahl for my pronunciations

and

2) YES!!! I hope so too.

 

[Myuu]

You know, if you're going to go on at length about someone's pronunciation, you're opening yourself up for criticism on your fleeting grasp of grammar.

Pronounce it correctly.

 

[DocEspana]

You know, if you're going to go on at length about someone's pronunciation, you're opening yourself up for criticism on your fleeting grasp of grammar.

Pronounce it correctly.

haha. I'm more or less just using false outrage in order to get the ball rolling for a thread of "unusual pronunciations." My grammar, in this case, was gonna be rather relaxed.

 

[LesBois88]

With regards to centimeter --> "sontimeter", pathologists are the worst offenders. I have no clue why.

 

[Knicks]

With regards to centimeter --> "sontimeter", pathologists are the worst offenders. I have no clue why.

Agreed. It's like they do it on purpose, which makes it worse.

 

[JKinSC]

Not a medical student yet, but my personal pet peeve is oblique, pronounced "oh-blahyk." I've been a CT/x-ray tech for better than 15 years now (non-trad FTW!), and it seems only lately that that pronunciation has come into vogue. It also seems to be strongly correlated with "sontimeter."

 

[ussdfiant]

Cool hwhip

Those all aren't so bad.
The worst is this one professor pronounces WH- words with an H in the beginning like while = hwile. white = hwite

 

[Ok2Panic]

This isn't necessarily a pronunciation thing, but a peeve nonetheless. What's the deal with calling illustrations "cartoons?" It seems like for the past few years every time a professor shows a diagram or illustration they say, "you'll notice in this CARTOON....."

Listen, Bugs Bunny is a cartoon. The signaling cascade of a g-coupled protein receptor is shown in a drawing. Call it a diagram. Call it an illustration. Call it a drawing (if you're a Brit or Mike Myers, call it a drawring), but please, for the love of all that is holy, don't call it a cartoon.

Thank you and good night.

Thank you. Unless you've got a Far Side that'll explain the urea cycle to me, that crap isn't a cartoon.

 

[whouse]

Thank you. Unless you've got a Far Side that'll explain the urea cycle to me, that crap isn't a cartoon.

Exactly. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[mvenus929]

Not a medical student yet, but my personal pet peeve is oblique, pronounced "oh-blahyk." I've been a CT/x-ray tech for better than 15 years now (non-trad FTW!), and it seems only lately that that pronunciation has come into vogue. It also seems to be strongly correlated with "sontimeter."

We had a radiologist (I think) come in and teach a couple weeks ago, and she kept saying 'oh-blahyk'. Drove most of the people in the class crazy.

My favorite (though it's not a peeve, rather just an amusing pronunciation) is 'sk-leet-l'... we have quite a few Brits teach us biochem, and we can always point them out with how they pronounce skeletal.

 

[Funky]

I was listening to a random goljan lecture today and he pronounces umbilicus - "um-bl-ly-cus". That was weird but I'll overlook it because he's awesome

 

[Knicks]

Those all aren't so bad.
The worst is this one professor pronounces WH- words with an H in the beginning like while = hwile. white = hwite

God, I hate that!

 

[MossPoh]

Some of the things are really more of regional differences than anything else. I can usually deal with the random differences from native english speakers. (Goljan does have some quirky ones)

The non-native English speakers are the ones who throw me off. Our path professor is from Spain. He is a great guy and ungodly smart, but when I do go to lectures I spend more time interpreting what is said than focusing on the material. He does have that slight Spanish lisp to words that always cracks me up. I'm also pretty sure he writes most of his emails using dictation software since all of his replies are in his accent.

I had a chinese professor in undergrad who was AWESOME....once you learned how to speak/understand his accent. It was for a database course and he loved to use different beers as an example. He never wanted to use "Bud" or "Coors" though. He liked to use Miller, Yuengling, Duvel, Labatt, Stella and every other beer with an "L" in it. It took me a month to grasp the concept that "hye-uh-ah-keek-uhl" meant Hierarchical and that "Yeeng-eeng" was Yuengling, amongst many many others.

 

[DocEspana]

He never wanted to use "Bud" or "Coors" though. He liked to use Miller, Yuengling, Duvel, Labatt, Stella and every other beer with an "L" in it.

 

[clinicallabguy]

This is a silly one, but when I say Sjögren's nobody knows what I'm talking about. Everybody pronounces it "Sho-gren", but Sj in swedish is actually kind of a cool sound that doesn't exist in english.

Type in Sjögren in translate.google.com and you'll hear the "ske" sound.

I'm not annoyed by people who say it incorrectly, but I am when I'm corrected and I'm saying it the right way.

 

[Geekchick921]

Those all aren't so bad.
The worst is this one professor pronounces WH- words with an H in the beginning like while = hwile. white = hwite

That's actually how you're supposed to pronounce those words. Drilled into me as a theatre major in undergrad in my voice and speech classes.

So hey... I know this is the allo forum, but are you supposed to pronounce podiatric as poe-DIE-ah-trick or poe-dee-AH-trick? I guess it's the first one, but I feel like neither one sounds right.

 

[Myuu]

That's actually how you're supposed to pronounce those words. Drilled into me as a theatre major in undergrad in my voice and speech classes.

So hey... I know this is the allo forum, but are you supposed to pronounce podiatric as poe-DIE-ah-trick or poe-dee-AH-trick? I guess it's the first one, but I feel like neither one sounds right.

I go with the second one when saying "podiatric" but the first one when saying "podiatry." Inconsistency city, over here.

 

[deleted307836]

This isn't necessarily a pronunciation thing, but a peeve nonetheless. What's the deal with calling illustrations "cartoons?" It seems like for the past few years every time a professor shows a diagram or illustration they say, "you'll notice in this CARTOON....."

Listen, Bugs Bunny is a cartoon. The signaling cascade of a g-coupled protein receptor is shown in a drawing. Call it a diagram. Call it an illustration. Call it a drawing (if you're a Brit or Mike Myers, call it a drawring), but please, for the love of all that is holy, don't call it a cartoon.

Thank you and good night.

OMG yes. Thank you. All of my undergrad bio professors do this, and I've never understood the reason. It's like they have secret meetings to determine how to use the English language more uniquely than everyone else.

 

[whouse]

OMG yes. Thank you. All of my undergrad bio professors do this, and I've never understood the reason. It's like they have secret meetings to determine how to use the English language more uniquely than everyone else.

And it just seemed to materialize out of nowhere. It was like during the last presidential election when the word "vetted" just seemed to show up and everyone felt the need to use it at least once per paragraph of conversation.