Why Can't Doctors Spell?

Authors

Christopher McManus

Abstract

The illegibility of doctors' handwriting has spawned innumerable jokes. Jottings that seem illegible and unintelligible may actually be technical terms that mimic commoner words. A cursory scan of Stedman's Medical Dictionary (1976) uncovered scores of seemingly-misspelled words. An abridged collection of these is given below, where each scientific term is followed by a brief definition, with its common look-alike in parentheses.

Recommended Citation

McManus, Christopher (1993) "Why Can't Doctors Spell?," Word Ways: Vol. 26 : Iss. 3 , Article 12.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol26/iss3/12