doorknob
v.— «The request usually comes after Belkin is about to walk out of the examining room. Doctors have a name for this: Doorknobbing. Metcalf said patients often “doorknob” when they’re afraid to reveal the purpose of their visit. “Patients recite a list of minor complaints and the doctor wonders why they are here. Then as the doctor gets up to leave and has his hand on the doorknob, a patient will say, ‘I was wondering about this, I’ve had blood in my stool the past two weeks.” It’s such a threatening symptom they can’t bring themselves to say it except in passing,” she said.» —“Some patients give doctors a headache” by Julie Moran Alterio Journal News (White Plains, New York) Mar. 25, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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