Throckmorton sign
n.— «One of these medical “tidbits” is the infamous “Throckmorton sign” for hip X-rays. This sign, the student is told, means that the penis is always pointed towards the side with the problem. This is always discussed while looking over a series of X-rays and inevitably proves true. The students are impressed and a bit baffled. Eventually, they learn that X-ray techs always take the X-ray picture with the patient on his side with the problem hip down closest to the film. The area closest to the film is seen more clearly on X-ray, so you want that to be the problem side. Gravity does the rest.» —“medical malarkey” by Steve Carder Humor List Dec. 21, 2000. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...