OMG Say it correctly!

Nurses Relations

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There is just somethings that really bother me, specifically mispronunciation of words. The specific abbreviation that realllllly grinds my gears is when a nurse or CNA/PCT says " O2 STATS" O2 "stat"uration?

Anyone have anything else that people misspell or mispronounce that gets them going??

:no:

A little funny story: when I was an LTC CNA and got an inevitable back injury, they sent me to an occupational health clinic. They didn't call it occupational health, of course, they used the abbreviated version: Occ. Med.

I spent quite awhile trying to figure out who the heck Achmed was and why I had to see him for my back injury.

Especially if he said, "Silence! I keel you!"

Specializes in Pedi.
I think W would disagree....(although I do agree)

Yes, I'm sure he would disagree... I'm also quite sure that listening to him say it that way for 8 years is why many people pronounce it like that.

I can't stand "mines." Mines sweater is in the closet.

The worst is All timers or old timers disease instead of Alzheimer's disease.

Specializes in OB.

Periph-EE-al instead of periph-ER-al. So annoying!

my PRECEPTORS used to say "PRE-cordial thump" instead of "PERI-cordial"

Specializes in Emergency.
my PRECEPTORS used to say "PRE-cordial thump" instead of "PERI-cordial"

Sorry, but precordial is the correct term :)

In nursing school, we had an instructor who said "umbiLIKEus", "sontimeter", and "di-LITAY-tion". It drove me nuts because most of my classmates started saying it that way too. From what I understand, those are acceptable variations, still bugs me though :)

My husband and his family are from the mid-west and they don't seem to have the variation of vowel sounds we have here in the north east. For example: marry, merry, Mary all sound exactly the same. Or fairy, furry, ferry. Gulf & golf. Walk & wok. Picture & Pitcher. I understand it's a regional thing, but it has led to some pretty hilarious conversations because I totally didn't know what he was talking about.

Once we were talking about the weather in Sarasota, Florida and he says "I think the golf is what makes it rain every afternoon." So I say "They do have large areas of grass which wouldn't otherwise be there, but do you really think the amount of water they need to maintain it could actually affect the weather?" We were both like "what?!" He meant the Gulf, of course.

Another time a fairy carried his car across the water in Maryland.

We haven't had one of these threads in awhile! Cool. :up:

Yesterday when I was assessing a hospice inpatient, his nurse came to talk to me about his "02 STATS" . . . . and I remembered this thread. I looked at her charting later and . . yep . . .she wrote "02 STATS". :woot:

What usually creates the most disagreement on these thread is sontimeter vs. centimeter and oriented vs. orientated.

I'm a fan of centimeter and sontimeter grates on me.

OrienTAted has to do with literally positioning yourself - most of the folks who use that word are our CNA folks.

Oriented is a better use of the idea of teaching someone about something . . like orienting them to the med-surg floor.

One of our docs uses "irregardless".

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.
The one that drives me crazy....

mELK instead of mILK

My mom, my aunt, and grandma all do this. Drives me and my brother crazy. Same with the Kroger announcer in the commercial selling the "Fresh Michigan mELK".

It bothers me when I hear a patient being asked "Are you painful?" instead of "Are you in pain?" I am waiting for someone to answer, "To some people I am; my son says I'm a pain in his neck!"

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.
lol that's like pellow ( pillow) :)

or pillars as a coworker called them.

Actually, it grates on my nerves when people say "off-ten" instead of "offen". Many years ago (back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth) I looked it up in the huge dictionary we had at home that weighed about a ton. It said the pronunciation is "offen". These days, it seems to be interchangeable, I guess. I never hear anyone say "sof-ten", though.

Of course I just HAD to look this one up. The dictionary has a brief history on it. Apparently it was always pronounced "often" until some of the more educated started to pronounce it "offen." Interesting. Therefore I've got to say offen is incorrect.

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