Is your name a conversation piece? A listener by the name of H. Christian Blood shares his story growing up with a colorful name. And for those of you with a comment to make, Christian Blood would remind you that he’s heard plenty of it over the...
Why do physicians speak of turfing an undesirable patient? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Turfing” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi there, this is Carmen Areola from Carlsbad. Hi, Carmen. Hi, Carmen. How are you doing? Good...
sniff n.— «The final diagnosis ended up being “idiopathic bilateral lower extremity paresis”—a fancy way of saying both of his legs were weak, and we didn’t know why. We sent him to a nursing home where he could get some physical therapy—a “sniff,”...
In an earlier episode, we discussed whether there’s a word for “a drawn-out leave-taking”– when, say, a friend says “goodbye” but keeps thinking of “one more thing” to say before exiting. Martha suggested the term doorknob-hanging. Several listeners...
A caller from Imperial Beach, California has a punctuation question: Dr. Tei Fu Chen and his wife, Dr. Oi Lin Chen own and operate a large, multinational herbal food company. In company literature, the two doctors are referred to in several ways...
medically homeless adj.— «Safety-net facilities take pressure off of emergency rooms by caring for people who are medically homeless, a term for people who don’t have a family doctor.» —“Clinics for the poor have own needs” by Tim...