La lexicon

Because linguistic misunderstandings are always funny. Not as funny as when I went on a school exchange and a classmate, who had intended to say "I'm going to the toilet and then I'm going to sleep", said "I'm going to the toilet and then I'm going to give birth," but funny all the same.

So here are some words I have having trouble getting used to:

Charts: The charts here mean the patient's notes, i.e. "Bring me Mrs Toronto's charts please." When they use the word 'notes' it means each individual sheet of paper written on in clinic (ie "the notes are in the charts"). What we call charts (ie Obs charts- temp, BP, so on) they call 'nursing notes'. All very confusing.

Loony: Not a mad person (see 'mad') but a one dollar coin. So named due to the bird on the back of it (a 'loon')

Toony: Not a French abreviation of the name Anthony, but a two dollar coin.

Mad: Means angry, rather than crazy. A schozophrenic man does not present with 'madness', no matter how bad the clerking (it turned out I was misreading the word melaena....oops).

Committed: To be committed is not something you aspire to be in a long term relationship here. Unless you want to be held in hospital against your will under court order (i.e. 'sectioned').

Age d'or: Lit: 'the golden age'. Probably a reference to what happens before you have your cataract operation.

Borderline personality: Where you're filling out Axis II (see 'Axis')- Any woman under 30 with psychiatric problems.

Axis: Something to do with DSM-IV, that goes in the notes between 'history' and 'plan'. Almost certainly evil.

Tabernac: The worst swear word in Canadian French. Literally means : 'tabernacle' in English, although I'm not sure that makes it any clearer.

Selexa: Local equivalent of Smarties.


And some words they're having difficulty getting used to:

Brolly.