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...
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...
teachback n.— «Asking questions doesn’t ensure that patients understand the answers. For that reason, many doctors now advocate a method called teachback. First, a doctor explains the situation to the patient in language that’s as plain...
doctor mosque n.— «Many of the mosques we see in the area now started off as what I call “doctor mosques.…What has happened is that many of the Middle Eastern immigrants who came into the United States would go to larger...
pigeon n.— «Forty years ago AA was difficult to find and in some cities it was necessary to locate a minister or doctor who had personal knowledge of a member in order to connect. When found, the members were confrontational. They would...