Doctor Slang is a Dying Art

The increasing rate of litigation means that there is a far higher chance that doctors will be asked in court to explain the exact meaning of NFN (Normal for Norfolk), FLK (Funny looking kid) or GROLIES (Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt). —Doctor Slang is a Dying Art (BBC)

Here’s an amusing couplet, taken from one of the many medical slang lists that seem to derive from* cover the same subject as Fox’s work:

  • DRT – Dead Right There (patient dead at scene of accident)
  • DRTTTT – Dead Right There, There, There and There (patient dead and in multiple parts at scene of accident)

* Update, 28 Aug: A reader who prefers to keep a low profile rightly questions my assumption that the other online lists derive from Fox’s work. Indeed, it’s plausible that Fox and the others all drew from the same sources (including ER in the US and Casualty in the UK).

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