words you just can't pronounce, no matter how hard you try:

[stoic]

trastuzumab. i just can't keep the the emphasis on the correct syllables. and i keep saying "mob" not "mab"

there HAVE to be others that give you guys trouble. share them. and then we'll make fun of the people who think up these crazy ass terms.

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[felipe5]

lol, i started a thread like this back when I used to slack off on SDN instead of study for class (ahem, Stoic)
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=153396

nonetheless, here two that come to mind:

*rachischisis---a favorite of mine from embryo
*hypergammaglobunemia---i can NEVER say this right on the first attempt

 

[DoctorFunk]

Just the other day in Anat lab I was busy exposing the upper back, and having a grand old time hacking away with my scalpel. I started telling everyone in the group what a great tool the scalpel was, and soon found that everytime I tried describing something on the scapula, I would always pronounce the bone "scalpula". For the past 3-4 days I haven't been able to say it right on the first try.

 

[ms. a]

I don't know why, but "glomeruler" just doesn't roll off my tongue.

That and "hyaluronic".

 

[UCSBMed1]

I don't know why, but "glomeruler" just doesn't roll off my tongue.

That and "hyaluronic".

Tranylcypromine (Parnate) a MAOI. Now that's a mouthful!

Back to shelf studying...

 

[LevatorAni]

Sphygmomanometer always takes at least 2 tries. "Blood pressure cuff" usually works the first time though.

 

[toofache32]

Mastication. Nuff said.

 

[superdevil]

That and "hyaluronic".

ditto that. always gets me.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

Mastication. Nuff said.

so what do you say instead?

 

[Wiggy73]

I have issues with "thoracoacromial". Seriously, did someone make up this stuff just to torture people? Wait, that'd be a yes.

 

[shivalrous]

Sphygmomanometer always takes at least 2 tries. "Blood pressure cuff" usually works the first time though.

Hah I got that word in a spelling bee once, it was great....I spelled it right though

 

[qwerty one]

syncytiotrophoblast

 

[jmugele]

nucular

 

[lilmo]

not at all hard to say, but i'm definitely naming my dog peduncle. think i'll call him pete for short.

 

[lilmo]

*hypergammaglobunemia---i can NEVER say this right on the first attempt

you gotta be able to spell it before you can say it

try hypergammaglobulinemia (you can thank good ole stedman's for that one)

 

[JaneDough]

pancreaticoduodenojejunostomy. Almost as painful to observe as it is to speak and spell.

 

[THP]

angina and acetylcholine - its seems like everyone has their own way of pronouncing these 2 words.

 

[toofache32]

angina

I always had trouble with anatomy.

 

[closertofine]

ha, I just encountered this word again...cribriform...short but painful!

 

[HrsNJ]

This has nothing to do with medicine, but I've always had a terrible time with the word "Arab."

I say "A-rib." I'm still scarred from an incident of reading a passage about the middle east aloud during 5th grade social studies.

 

[vhawk]

Ok, maybe I am weird, but how else can you pronounce acetylcholine? I dont know much about phonetic symbols, but here is how I have always heard it....ah-seat-ul-co-leen. I guess you could say ah-set-ul, but thats kinda minor. Is there some really bizarre pronunciation I'm not aware of?

 

[snapdad]

Ok, maybe I am weird, but how else can you pronounce acetylcholine? I dont know much about phonetic symbols, but here is how I have always heard it....ah-seat-ul-co-leen. I guess you could say ah-set-ul, but thats kinda minor. Is there some really bizarre pronunciation I'm not aware of?

I pronounce it that way too, but I've heard it pronounced ahs-uh-teal-co-leen, which is a bit tougher to say.

Here's one: Oseltamivir

 

[SFAJess]

Rachischisis and for some reason I cannot spit out "extensor expansion" correctly on the first try.

 

[jaidub]

I have a patient taking imipenem. Every morning on rounds its an adventure with that word.

 

[Indryd]

I have always found ophthalmology confusing. I have never met anyone who doesn't say "opthuhmology", but it sure looks like I should be saying it differently.

For all you throwing out long crazy medical words just to be impressive: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Learned that one in ten minutes on a bet with a dickheaded teacher in fifth grade.

w00t w00t

 

[Flopotomist]

pancreaticoduodenojejunostomy. Almost as painful to observe as it is to speak and spell.

I gotta say, your signature line is great, but isn't his name INIGO and not INDIGO?

 

[JaneDough]

I gotta say, your signature line is great, but isn't his name INIGO and not INDIGO?

Dunno. When I googled Princess Bride to get the avatar I saw it spelled both ways.
Tomato/Tamato.

 

[jennben4]

I second that. Thoracoacromial. Really now. It usually takes me three tries to put it together.

I have issues with "thoracoacromial". Seriously, did someone make up this stuff just to torture people? Wait, that'd be a yes.

 

[sweetpeamd09]

Just the other day in Anat lab I was busy exposing the upper back, and having a grand old time hacking away with my scalpel. I started telling everyone in the group what a great tool the scalpel was, and soon found that everytime I tried describing something on the scapula, I would always pronounce the bone "scalpula". For the past 3-4 days I haven't been able to say it right on the first try.

We just finished the first exam block...so hopefully I won't be so fixated on the scapula (what attaches, its motions, blah blah blah)...

But last week in lab... I was getting a lil crazy. And I asked my partner if she had my scapula... I needed my scapula and couldn't find it. I continued like this for like a min or so before she busted out laughing at me, mostly b/c I was so convinced that I was right and couldn't figure out why she didn't get me... and secondly b/c I had officially lost it.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

pancreaticoduodenojejunostomy. Almost as painful to observe as it is to speak and spell.

I think that's why it's more commonly called a Whipple. And yes it's an ugly procedure to watch.

 

[fielight]

first time i saw the word "paracoccidioidomycosis", i swear i thought it was made-up.

 

[cytoskelement]

pronunciation permutations of mediastinum, duodenum, ibuprofen... "you say tomatoe... I say tomato... lets call the whole thing off."

you can always save the acetylcholine issue by saying ACh!

 

[Moto]

Not that I'll ever need it, but I've always had a problem with murderer.
Same with yesterday.

On a side note: I had so much fun at school being teased because my mother (who speaks Russian taught British English, yes it's different from regular British English) taught to say girl w/o the r; tukey not turkey, and to greet people w/ "How do you do?"
Needless to say, I was considered to be the 'odd one' by my classmates becaues I spoke funny.
At least in med school, I won't be the only one having problems w/ pronounciations

 

[Ypo.]

"sustentaculum tali"

although I think I have it figured out now

 

[The Remix]

"Splenomegaly" it usually comes out something like "slenenegony" the first time I try

Also "borborygmi" I just can't do it to save my life

 

[Hurricane]

Roentogram. X-ray is so much easier.

And I really hate it when people say "sauntometers" instead of centimeters. It sounds so friggin' pretentious.

 

[PreMedAdAG]

don't know if its been posted.. but "dudodenojejunal junction" always throws me for a loop

 

[qwerty one]

Trendenelberg test. And I probably spelled it wrong.

 

[45408]

not at all hard to say, but i'm definitely naming my dog peduncle. think i'll call him pete for short.

Hey! I know that one. It might have a totally different medical meaning (I'm sure ), but it's the "foot" of a "goose" Cirriped (barnacle).

Trendenelberg test. And I probably spelled it wrong.

Trendelenberg maybe?

 

[banana k]

shortest but most unblurtable word ever: rural. it always seems to come out "urrl!" or "rroool!" unless the speaker is particularly adept.

more on topic: sublethal doses. something about that always induces a lisp that lasts for at least the next five minutes with me, so if i have to have a discussion about it, i'm screwed.

 

[Antigunner]

Seems like it shouldn't be hard, but I stumble over ilioinguinal a lot.

Incidentally, our Embryo prof can't spit out gastroschisis to save her life. She is also the first person I've ever heard say ovulation with a long O at the start.

 

[JaneDough]

"sustentaculum tali"

although I think I have it figured out now

That is one of my favorite medical words! We should start a favorite medical words thread...