Learn To Say It Correctly!!

CASTLEGATES · Oct 25, 2009

I actually went to Maine and a few other places, and they thought I had an accent (I'm from Michigan)! I had a difficult time understanding many people there!

Michigan is where they paerk the kaer in the yaerd. Boston they paak the kaa in the yaad and on the eastern shore of MD, VA, etc they worsh with the worder.

"Oh my heck" is a dead giveaway for a Utah native, same with "Oh my hell"

Gnarly used to be California but their lingo changes too rapidly for me.

and "Hon" after every sentence is Baltimore (pronounced howun) "We goa gesum naddy bo and creabs howunn" (We're going to get some National Bohemian beer and crabs, friend)!

Historians say Baltimore has retained a similar accent for hundreds of years the sailors had before and after the US existed (all interesting) so I imagine this strange local accent is how the sailors cursed when the national anthem was written? LOL! Out to sea too long would be my guess, but they're good people.

One thing I see country wide is "I gots to axe you a question" where that seems to be learned since two people from the same community will not speak this way...same as a lisp-identifier or the universal NY accent-identifier as a border-less community for some. We use language as a giveaway of who we are, where we're from and sometimes our background or beliefs. More recently a "God willing" for our mideastern friends (I kinda like that). Kinda...in Thai, Kinae is kind of (to my surprise)...OK is Chinese and we need to spell English as it sounds like our smarter Spanish counterparts. Their language isn't in flux like ours and seems more consistent and universal. British English and US English has already parted ways. In 300 more years we'll have different languages; right now they're already different dialects.

rn/writer, RN · Oct 25, 2009

cripes is a disguised word for Christ which is short for Jesus Christ (basically disguising an exclamation of that name to announce dismay or shock). For further interpretation it's basically calling that deities name in vain.
Same with heck=hell,
gosh is actually a double nasty for deity and fecal combined.
, golly=god,
geez=Jesus
darn, dang, dern=damn, etc.
shoot, sheitz, sheister, shucks = fecal material,
any form of frig, frick, frang, = fornicate

For many of us, myself included, using such euphemisms is an attempt to express strong emotion without taking a deity's name in vain or mentioning other off-color words. In this age of limited boundaries, I appreciate any efforts to veer off the vulgarity track, even if they're made at the very last moment.

Two asides--

You didn't include "feck" or "fecking" which, along with their obvious alternative, make up at approximately 5% of the Irish casual vocabulary. (The real word is more prevalent in the US, but we don't seem to hold to the idea that swapping out a "u" for an "e" makes it better.) I'd really prefer not to hear any such words, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

Only because this is a thread about usage, I have to point out that you used "deities" as a possessive rather than "deity's." Sorry. Couldn't resist.

ilovelei · Nov 23, 2009

I know!!! sometimes I just want to scream!!!

KungFuFtr · Nov 23, 2009

I can't stand when people call a prostate a prostrate. The words are larynx and pharynx not lar-a-nix and phar-a-nix.

Non medical words...

I'd like to go to Australia not All-stralia.

I feel better now.

blaquediamondzRN · Dec 22, 2009

I know a nurse who says Ibuproforin. It's Ibuprofen!

RNman09 · Dec 23, 2009

How about med-search not med-surg I heard that a lot.

RNman09 · Dec 23, 2009

I also know a lot of people who say "dowsand" instead of "thousand." The most common is "I like ted it" instead of "I liked it.":igtsyt:

Always_Learning, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2009

How about "seen"...as in, "I seen her yesterday and she looked good..."
One of my personal favorites (although it was written, not spoken) is seeing "status post CABBAGE" on paperwork instead of CABG! :heartbeat
"Phen-a-gren" also drives me bonkers for some reason...
"Conversate" is not a word...if you are chatting, you are CONVERSING with someone!
I'm not sure if this is incorrect, but it made me laugh nonetheless: "POO-berty" for "puberty."

Always_Learning, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2009

I had a nursing instructor who went through the entire semester pronouncing Guillain-Barre Syndrome as Jillian Bar Syndrome. You had better believe the staff laughed hysterically when I mispronounced that one in clinicals.
Luckily, we really liked this instructor and gently let her know. She had a good laugh too! Who the heck is Jillian Bar???
On a side note I met a guy named Theodore Hose a few years back and can't stop laughing about it. We called him Ted against his wishes...couldn't resist.

BAHAHAHA!!! This one made me laugh out loud! :yeah: Jillian Bar...that rocks the house!

Nikki.J · Jan 2, 2010

I've never heard this, but I immediately thought "status" when I read it aloud. So... even though its wrong, wrong, WRONG, maybe they're implying O2 "STATUS". (Doesn't make it seem as ridiculous).

Just a thought :nuke:

Orange Tree · Jan 2, 2010

Doesn't it just drive you insane when someone tells you that Mr. Smith's O2 STAT is 96%?
It's O2 SAT people! Sat, short for saturation. I even hear respiratory therapists saying this. I am sooooo tempted to say something next time, but I know it's just petty, so I needed to vent here. Thank you.

I started reporting "O2 STATS" as a first semester student. In my last semester, an instructor told me, "It's not STATS, it's SATS." I was a little embarrassed, but soooooo glad that someone finally told me! I could have gone on saying it that way for years! :cry:

K+MgSO4, BSN · Jan 2, 2010

it is 02 sat as it is singular..........saturation of oxygen not saturations of oxygen.

and sorry but here in australia it is orientated. oriented is just never heard or seen in

documentation.

km