A physician in Onancock, Virginia, shares some expressions he’s picked up from his patients, such as Old Arthur, as in Old Arthur’s in town — a reference to suffering from arthritis. Patients have also described feeling discouraged or depressed as feeling out of heart. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Folk Expressions for Ailments”
We heard from Tom Hollinsworth in Onankock, Virginia.
He writes,
I’m a homegrown physician on the eastern shore of Virginia, the southern part of the peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic.
For years, I’ve maintained a list of eastern shore medical expressions to give to new medical providers.
He sent us a lot of examples, but a couple of them I especially like.
One of them is Old Arthur.
Like if you have a visit from Old Arthur.
Is that arthritis?
Yes.
Old Arthur’s in town.
And another one that really touched me was the phrase out of heart.
He’s had patients use that to mean I’m discouraged or depressed.
Like, yeah, Doc, my wife left me.
I’m out of heart.
And I started researching this term, and apparently it goes all the way back to the 16th century.
Out of heart in those days meant in low spirits, discouraged, disheartened, despondent.
But it’s such a beautiful phrase.
Yeah, a different kind of, not a synonym for heartless.
No, no, just, yeah, just sort of sad or crestfallen.
I’m out of heart, Doc.
Yeah, those sound like good old-timey phrases to me.
I love them.
You’ve probably encountered phrases in your work, expressions that other people don’t know that you’d be delighted to share with us and the world.
Send them along.
Words at waywordradio.org.
