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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: August 23, 2003 Revealed: The secret world of doctors' slang -- "The slang can be cruel, insulting and highly inventive, says Adam Fox, a specialist registrar at the Child Allergy Unit at St. Mary's Hospital in London, who has put together a dictionary of the terms. They include British emergency-room acronyms such as UBI (for "Unexplained Beer Injury"), PAFO ("Pissed And Fell Over") and ATFO ("Asked To F... Off"), not to mention Code Brown, referring to a faecal incontinence emergency. Then there is DBI, for "Dirtbag Index." This is a formula which multiplies the number of tattoos on the patient's body by the number of missing teeth to estimate the total of days he has gone without a bath."
Reader Comments...
What about Indian or Native American? Some find those offensive. Or getting a placebo instead of real medication. This article was about terms used to describe a person's mental or physical condition(s), not their race or ethnicity. Still insulting, but not the same as racism. The real issue is lack of professionalism and being objective. They're supposed to write down the facts and make a professional diagnosis, not criticizing people. Posted by: Morris Cox on August 23, 2003 06:43 PM
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