Medical Slang

Medical slang is the use of acronyms and informal terminology to describe patients, other healthcare personnel and medical concepts. Some terms are pejorative. In English, medical slang has entered popular culture via television hospital and forensic science dramas such as '' ER'', ''House M.D.'', ''NCIS'', ''Scrubs'', and '' Grey's Anatomy'', and through fiction, in books such as ''The House of God'' by Samuel Shem (Stephen Joseph Bergman), ''Bodies'' by Jed Mercurio, and ''A Case of Need'' by Jeffery Hudson (Michael Crichton)

Examples of pejorative language include ''bagged and tagged'' for a corpse, a reference to the intake process at a mortuary; ''donorcycle'' for ''motorcycle'' or ''PFO'' for ''pissed drunk] and fell over''. Less offensive are the terms ''blue pipes'' for veins; ''cabbage'' for a heart bypass (''coronary artery bypass graft'' or CABG), and ''champagne tap'' for a flawless lumbar puncture, that is, one where erythrocyte count is zero.

Limitations on use

In many countries, facetious or insulting acronyms are now considered unethical and unacceptable, and patients can access their medical records. Medical facilities risk being sued by patients offended by the descriptions. Another reason for the decline is that facetious acronyms could be confused with genuine medical terms and the wrong treatment administered.

In one of his annual reports (related by the BBC), medical slang collector Adam Fox cited an example where a practitioner had entered “TTFO”, meaning “told to fuck off”, on a patient’s chart. When questioned about the chart entry, the practitioner said that the initials stood for “to take fluids orally.”

As a result, medical slang tends to be restricted to oral use and to informal notes or E-mails which do not form part of a patient’s formal records. It may also be used among medical staff outside of the hospital. It is not found on patients’ charts and, due to growing awareness of medical slang, often not used in front of patients themselves.

Non-English

Although online medical slang dictionaries are primarily from English-speaking countries, non-English medical slang has been collected by Fox from elsewhere. Brazilian medical slang includes ''PIMBA'' ("Pé Inchado Mulambo Bêbado Atropelado" meaning "swollen-footed, drunk, run-over beggar"), ''Poliesculhambado'' (multi-messed-up patient) and ''Trambiclínica'' (a "fraudulent clinic" staffed cheaply by medical students).

Annual round-up

There is an annual round-up of the usage of medical slang by British physician Dr. Adam Fox of St Mary's Hospital, London. Fox has spent five years charting more than 200 examples, regional and national terms and the general decline of medical slang. He believes that doctors have become more respectful of patients, which has contributed to the decline. While its use may be declining in the medical profession, several dictionaries of the slang have been compiled on the internet.

See also

*Acronyms in healthcare
*List of medical abbreviations

References

Further reading

* — Discussion of the "usage, derivation, and psychological, ethical, and legal aspects of slang terminology in medicine" as well as a glossary of common UK medical slang terms
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*{{cite web, url=http://www.messybeast.com/dragonqueen/medical-acronyms.htm, title=DOCTORS' SLANG, MEDICAL SLANG AND MEDICAL ACRONYMS, author=Dragonqueen — Medical Slang around the world

Online Housestaff Community
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Top 5 Annoying Medical Terms

External links

medical acronyms and slang


Occupational cryptolects
Slang