Mispronunciations That Drive You Nuts

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Car-dee-ya-zem.

It's car-di-zem. Or dil-ti-ya-zem.

Cardiazem isn't a real thing.

Can I get an amen?!

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

I had a patient once who referred to a DESK as a DEST. Always.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Healthcare employees referring to adult BRIEFS as diapers!! And calling them "diapers" right in front of the pt.

When I have a patient who is resistant to briefs or 'pull-ups", as in "I don't need those things!"..... I sometimes refer to them as "just-in-case pants". For some reason that is more acceptable to them.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

mitten or kitten where t's are silent!

And if someone was 'impacted', they better have a bruise or a dent, or be 'stove-up' in their bowels!

Impactful is for folks who don't know the difference 'twixt' effect and affect.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
That would FUSTRATE me to no end. Fustrate?

That's so frustrating!

How about FLUSTRATING?

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Michigan. It's pop not soda here.

I grew up in eastern Mass. where it was 'tonic'!

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Well, that IS incorrect pronunciation according to the rules of the English language, but I agree people need to be more forgiving to those trying their best to learn English as a second language.

Learning a second language is difficult for anyone. Don't knock immigrants' accents until you've tried to learn a second language as an adult yourself!

A little Old-World European fellow used to say "dumpbeling" for tumbling....as in the little drunken bees were "dumpbeling " around in his hand (they were drunken from the fermented sugar-water in the hummingbird feeder.)

Whenever he told his bee story,I thought it quite charming.

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I am liking this thread. I do not mind anyone correcting any medical terms that I say wrong. I do know that my patient ( home health) can say the name of the meds he is on better than me.

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I work in hospice and we have had a few patients and families that call Hospice "hostage" or "hos-pick". I've also heard oxygen said many different ways.

A lot of older people say it

OX ee ghen (hard "g", as in go)

Makes my back teeth hurt

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I heard this one today, pericardiocentesis pronounced like pericardial-synthesis.

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No Stars In My Eyes said:
How about FLUSTRATING?

Or "fluster-ating".

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

My Finnish Nana pronounced manger (as in 'away in a..') with a hard G. :)

My mother could not say 'Macon' (Georgia); even though I told her it is pronounced just like bacon, she still pronounced it 'MAY-conn' almost as if it was two separate words.

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FRAmilair in stead of familiar.

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