Tricks of the Trade + Medical Slang
1. "Tricks of the Trade"
< http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/how_to/tricks_of_the_trade.php >
"For every occupation, there is a catalog of secrets only its employees are
aware of - such as how waiters with heavy platters know to look straight
ahead, and never down. Armed with a bag of reader mail, Matthew Baldwin
unfurls a whole lot more true insider knowledge"
Examples:
* Butcher: In Australia, the butchers have a secret language called
'rechtub klat' that they use to gossip about customers without getting
caught
* Nurse: Patients will occasionally pretend to be unconscious. A surefire
way to find them out is to pick up their hand, hold it above their face,
and let go. If they smack themselves, they're most likely unconscious;
if not, they're faking"
A blog inspired by the article, which collects "tricks of the trade":
< http://www.tradetricks.org/ >
2. "Doctor, doctor, I'm pumpkin positive" [expired link]
< http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7031676%5E13762,00.html >
"These and other terms are part of a secret language, indecipherable to
outsiders, that doctors use with each other to convey a truth that is
otherwise unsayable, especially to the patient"
Examples:
* "General practitioners may use LOBNH ('Lights On But Nobody Home') or
the impressively bogus Oligoneuronal to mean someone who is thick"
* "Then there is DBI, for 'Dirtbag Index.' This is a formula which
multiplies the number of tattoos on the patient's body by the number
of missing teeth to estimate the total of days he has gone without a
bath"
* "If a doctor is stumped for what is wrong with his or her patient, they
may record GOK, for 'God Only Knows'"
Archived at:
< http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-chat/974932/posts >
"Medical slang"
< http://www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0702/education/225.html >
The paper referred to in the article.
