From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com (Steve Harris  sbharris@ROMAN9.netcom.com)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,alt.fan.jai-maharaj,sci.med,sci.med.cardiology,
	alt.support.cancer,alt.support.arthritis
Subject: Re: REVEALED: THE SECRET WORLD OF DOCTORS' SLANG
Date: 1 Oct 2003 19:38:05 -0700
Message-ID: <79cf0a8.0310011838.7a5887c3@posting.google.com>

ynkk <yanking@my.rope> wrote in message
news:<MPG.19df92e3936ebeb798a4d6@news.alt.net>...

> > This happens in Bharat and the US, too, and seems to be a worldwide
> > phenomenon.
>
> Yeah, that's essentially the point that Howie McCollister tried to make,
> but it turns out that it was just his angst doing the talking; he had no
> references to back his claim.  I suspect that he was just referring to
> what goes in on his own office, or at least what would go on there if he
> HAD an office.
>
> So, do YOU have any references?  I'd like to read them.


Most of those reference were new to me (I suspect they are
Brit-specific). But I have heard of the O sign and the Q sign and even
the dotted Q sign (there's a fly on the end of the tongue).

All professions have their set of abbreviations and shibboleths, and
often the humor is black and sexist and racist and ribald. Which is to
say, human. I talked to a retired LA cop the other day who told me
that once upon a time any LA cop could tell you what the shorthand
notation NVN/NIHB meant.* Mark Fuhrman didn't come out of the vacuum.

* Nigger vs nigger; no injury to human being.