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February 27, 2008

BehindTheMedspeak: What do those abbreviations really mean?

Medical460x276

My favorite, from Samuel Shem's 1978 classic, "House of God," didn't make the graphic up top.

WNL, commonly thought to be shorthand for "Within normal limits," instead becomes "We never looked."

[via Jerry Young]

February 27, 2008 at 04:01 PM | Permalink

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Comments

Ooh, I thought I'd made a clean getaway...

But no, Ben Casey is correct! The hairiest-armed, sullenest-expressioned neurosurgeon (when he wasn't getting into knife fights or falling in love with women who just came out of 13-year comas) at County General.

Fifty cents it is. Four bits. Half a clam. I have it right here.

Just tell me what to do with it. Please be kind.

Posted by: Flautist | Feb 28, 2008 10:28:57 PM

Where's my half-a-buck?

Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Feb 28, 2008 6:35:26 PM

Some nurses got busted for this one.

BUNDY- But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet.

Posted by: Nick | Feb 28, 2008 11:17:42 AM

JPN - Just Plain Nuts
RPE - Ralph Pulmonary Edema (one step beyond Frank)
TTF - Turf the F**ker
FUBAR - we already know this one

Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Feb 28, 2008 1:10:06 AM

Ben Casey

Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Feb 28, 2008 1:01:49 AM

A nurse friend of mine told me DKDC (don't know, don't care) and CHP (crapped his/her pants), but I don't know how widely used they were.

Hey, 50 cents to anybody who remembers what this is from:

"Man,
Woman,
Birth,
Death,
Infinity"

When I was a kid we always stuck a dollar sign under the list of symbols for the above.

Posted by: Flautist | Feb 27, 2008 6:53:09 PM

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