One of the well-studied phenomenae of the medical world is the almost universal use of shorthand, abbreviations, initialisms, and other ways of expressing complex and specific concepts succinctly. The proliferation of TLAs (Three-Letter Acronyms for the uninitiated) has in many contexts aided communication while in others has instead created a communication barrier to the potential detriment of patient care.1 Slang is specific to an environment and while easily understood in context can be quite misleading removed from this. Curiously, medical slang seems to in general become more informal the more intense the context; from the infamously obtuse “Please do the needful as indicated” General Practitioner referral letter request to the emergency department to the time-critical “You, bag! You, chest! You, drugs!” of the arrest situation. The Intensive Care Unit is no different and the slang can take some getting used to. As a physician-to-be, here are some of my favourites.
Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P4Lz3O-gRyE/maxresdefault.jpg
Image: http://figures.boundless.com/10334/full/arplate-redbloodcells-edit.jpeg
Image: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/558f573ee4b0fc259f0a56d2/t/55b8d2dce4b02e76ae9e2a55/1438175968974/Order+Raw+Food+Indulgence
Image: https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/images/appnotes/4698/4698Fig02.gif
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Haloperidol_Structural_Formulae.png
Image: http://www.chimera.media.com.pl/2009/prace/pro/18kmag.jpg
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Heart-and-lungs.jpg
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Sobo_1909_623.png
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Endotracheal_tube_colored.png
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Petrol_Station.jpg
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Happy New Year 2016 everyone! Thanks to everyone who made the previous one so fantastic. Good times. Bad times. Made it through. Ups and downs. Learned a lot. Hope the next one's better. One chapter closing. New chapter beginning. Resolutions. Star Wars was awesome. Something about rollercoasters. What was it about rollercoasters again? Yes that's right... Rollercoasters are a prime example of intra-dimensional warfare, as Abed Nadir would no doubt attest. Whenever most people talk about rollercoasters they talk about the ups and downs as if the ride were a linear Cartesian function with an x-axis of time and a y-axis of life awesomeness. Needless to say I don't think such a roller coaster exists as it would of course result in terrible ride-time efficiency and this is clearly the main factor that all-you-can-ride single entry fee theme parks care about when considering how best to avoid the greater than an hour long queues that they subject their patrons to every Summer, but that's a subject for another time. No, the real heroes of rollercoaster excitement are acceleration and deceleration. Many coasters are billed as the 'tallest in the world', 'fastest in the world', 'highest in the world' (that one's definitely just a gimmick, putting a small coaster on a tower on a hill in the middle of nowhere does not make for a more exciting ride) but none of these features matter. When it comes to coasters, just like climaxes in a certain gender, it's all about the G's. What really makes a coaster great from a pure visceral sensation point of view is its acceleration and deceleration. While these are related to its height and tortuosity (the formal measurement of 'ups and downs'), these are only two of the many factors that determine the acceleration and thus G-forces that coaster riders experience. A tall and steep coaster like the Superman Escape has very few turns compared to other 'centrepiece-coasters' but it's very rapid initial acceleration speed makes for a nevertheless great ride. image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Movie_world_superman_escape_zz.JPG
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Movie_World_Wild_Wild_West_z.JPG But the real tragedy of talking about rollercoaster ups and downs rather than g forces is what that says about one's perspective. Ups and downs are the most noticeable thing when one is a viewer on the ground looking at a static rollercoaster. Passive. Oberver. It says that one is talking about life, the most exciting and terrifying thing we can experience, as if one is a detached and disinterested analyst, which while it would make for a well thought-out business plan or contemplative self-development is a pretty terrible rollercoaster. There is a real role for contemplation around New Year's Day but there are much better analogies for this, such as a book, painting, footprints in the sand, etc. Rather, if we're going to talk about rollercoasters at all we should be dynamic participants, from which perspective it's acceleration and deceleration that are the make or break of a great ride. So next time I talk about a year, project, relationship, or event with a rollercoaster simile I'm going to talk about it's positive and negative G's rather than its ups and downs. 2015 was full of the former and I'm sure 2016 will be too! N.B. If you really want to talk about ups and downs or it's just a habit that is hard to break, you could instead talk about something where ups and downs are the main feature of the construct, e.g. elevators. |
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