Re: Latin plurals and apostrophes - was AMOL - and Torsion
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Apr 10 16:55:03 2002
thanks Steve :)
art
At Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Steve & Eryl Raymond wrote:
>
>The word primigravida is Latin for a woman in her first pregnancy. Because it
>refers to a woman it is feminine. Thus the singular ending is "-a" while the
>plural is "-ae". In English an apostrophe denotes either a letter left out, or
>the possessive form. The last word you have written is doubly wrong. There is
>no need for either the "s" or the apostrophe. If you wish to refer to more than
>one "primigravida" the word to use is "primigravidae".
>
>Now having said all that one realises that language evolves. Daily useage
>changes meanings and what is regarded as correct. One of the best examples is
>the way in which it is now standard in the US to use the verb "to lay" to mean
>"to lie down". Originally "lay" was only either the past tense of "lie" or a
>transitive verb requiring an object such as "to lay eggs (or bricks or a
>carpet)". It seems that there will never be a time when this American useage
>will disappear, so we have to accept that a new expression has now evolved so
>that it is perfectly acceptable to say, for instance, "whenever I lay down I get
>a pain..." However, I for one will be saddened if this almost universal dumbing
>down over the incorrect insertion of apostrophes for plurals becomes accepted as
>standard.
>
>The apparently unofficial use of the word "tort" as a verb, which Webster has
>shown to be wrong is news to me. I am going hide behind the excuse that it is
>medical jargon, just as the medical jargon "to pit a primigravida" is heard
>daily in the US, meaning "to administer oxytocin to a patient in her first
>pregnancy". This makes the expression "a torted ovarian cyst" just as
>acceptable on the Eastern side of the Atlantic where you will never hear the
>other expression "pit a primi". This will be scorned as American jargon and
>indeed will be frowned upon as an expression ever to be written in a patient's
>notes! The fact is that medical terminology varies from country to country, so
>that whereas I was always used to referring to an ultrasonic scan in Obstetrics
>as "a scan" when I was in Britain, now that I am in South Africa one has to use
>the term "ultrasound" instead. Because it is technical jargon it is not always
>useful to turn to general dictionaries to adjudicate on the correct meaning of a
>term. However, if you don't agree with me, just look up the verb "to lay" or
>"to pit" in your Webster and see if I am right?
>
>Dan, you are right about my age group, but I am quite certain in my memory that
>I was taught about untwisting a torsion by the first Gynaecologist I worked with
>in New Zealand when I was in my third postgraduate year in 1973. Perhaps it was
>the remoteness of New Zealand which meant that not many journals or much
>mainstream academic thinking was considered. Or it may be that Kiwis have
>always been known for being a resourceful lot who look for new and innovative
>ways of doing things. Apparently in the 2nd World War, the Anzacs were
>notorious for keeping their tanks running in the desert with only a piece of
>No.8 fencing wire and some ingenuity.
>stray
>
>R L Meisel wrote:
>
>> Primigravida's or nulliparous patients
>>
>> or from the book
>>
>> Primigravidae's
>>
>> --
>> Best Wishes,
>> R L Meisel, MD
>
>--
>
>Dr.S.H. Raymond
>Head of Department of O & G
>Empangeni Hospital
>South Africa 3880
>Phone: (+27) 35-7721111
>Fax: (+27) 35-7922596
>
--
art fougner, md
ich bin ein New Yorker
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