Learn To Say It Correctly!!

[SheriLynnRN]

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.

[bigsick_littlesick]

My bacteriology professor was a woman from the deep South. I knew from nothing about bacti, so had no idea that her description of the microscopes as 'oool immersion' [long 'o'], referred to their being 'oil' immersion 'scopes. In my class notes, I had been duly writing 'ole' until I finally made the connection: "Oh, I get it, you put a drop of oil on the slides...ergo, oil immersion." [slaps forehead].

Nice lol Silly prof!

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I went to nursing school outside of Boston. My instructor went on and on about using a Hoya lift. The test comes...in the answer spot I wrote Hoya. She marked it wrong saying I spelling it wrong. Wait, I said...Hoya H O Y A...No she said...Hoya ...H O Y E AHHHH (hoyer...go pahk the cah). I burst out laughing...and she said...oh right...you're not from around here!

[CuriousMe]

I went to nursing school outside of Boston. My instructor went on and on about using a Hoya lift. The test comes...in the answer spot I wrote Hoya. She marked it wrong saying I spelling it wrong. Wait, I said...Hoya H O Y A...No she said...Hoya ...H O Y E AHHHH (hoyer...go pahk the cah). I burst out laughing...and she said...oh right...you're not from around here!

Well that's not wrong, that's just an accent. If anything as you weren't from there, you likely sounded "wrong." (as a NY'er, I can say that it is a common north east trait to avoid all R's)

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I pahked the cah in hahvahd yahd, and sawr it drive away......

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I pahked the cah in hahvahd yahd, and sawr it drive away......

lol...I did NOT have an accent. SHE did! I speak perfectly wonderful English, thank you very much!

[metal_m0nk, BSN, RN]

I pahked the cah in hahvahd yahd, and sawr it drive away......

:lol2:

Need......more.......kudos...!!!!!!

[CuriousMe]

CapeCodMermaid said:

lol...I did NOT have an accent. SHE did! I speak perfectly wonderful English, thank you very much!

I would say that depends wholly on location ? If there are 10 folks, 9 of them speak with a true Bostonian accent and 1speaks perfect midwest American English, I submit that it is the 1 with the accent and not the 9.

I've worked around the world in very multi-national settings. That was generally the rule of thumb we used....majority rule, and the minority had the accent ?

I'll never forget, the son of a good friend came to visit me on site, outside the US. Less than 10% of the staff were from North America, never mind from the US so heavily accented English was the norm. This young man visiting had a very pronounced southern accent, and had never been outside of his county before, never mind his country (he was roughly 12 yr-old). He took me aside and said "Ms. CuriousMe, these people all talk funny." I just smiled at him and let him know that they all likely thought he spoke pretty funny as well. He looked at me with a stunned expression on his face ?

We always think we're right, as it's what we've always known.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

triquee said:

Need......more.......kudos...!!!!!!

Thahnk ya, thahnk ya verry much!

[belgarion]

Quote

Well that's not wrong, that's just an accent. If anything as you weren't from there, you likely sounded "wrong." (as a NY'er, I can say that it is a common north east trait to avoid all R's)

Reminds me of a story I read once about a recent college grad from Georgia who took a job in NYC. He was constantly catching flack for his accent, accused of sounding ignorant, scaring off clients or what have you. Then he met a client who was from Alabama. This person told him to think - did he ever listen to the way THEY talk? "He said at least we listen to the birds and not the "boids". We go to the toilet and not the "terlet". We may say ya"ll but at least it's not "youse gise".

While some of the examples here are true mispronunciations, a lot of them seem to be nothing more than a regional dialect showing through and the people doing the complaining are saying "if you don't speak like I do you are WRONG." Maybe nursing school needs to start including a course in "generic English."

[Faith213]

MedicalLPN said:

The one that gets to me the most, and my dear grandparents still say it this way is : Diarrhear I hear it fairly often from many different people and one day someone's going to say it to me and I'm going to scream THERE'S NO 'R' AT THE END!

I'm from Louisiana and hear "diarrhear" a lot. And a lot of people pronounce it "dy-a-rear". I just think to myself, "If it dyes your rear then you must not be 'cleaning' yourself very welll."

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

What about when people say:

acrosst (instead of across)

heitth as in hite with an added th (instead of height)

I also have a friend who instead of telling me what something cost her she tells me what it "costed" her.

[francesca22]

CuriousMe said:

Well that's not wrong, that's just an accent. If anything as you weren't from there, you likely sounded "wrong." (as a NY'er, I can say that it is a common north east trait to avoid all R's)

I did not mean to judge my Southern bacteriology professors's pronunciation of 'oil' as 'wrong.' I know it was a regional dialect. Once I 'got ' that she was speaking in her native style, I understood.

I probably should not have posted this message in "learn to say it right."