Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Pumpkin Positive



There are a  number of ‘medical’ terms for patients believed to be somewhat intellectually challenged.   Some are well known like LOBNH (Lights On But Nobody Home); some less so like CNS-QNS (Central Nervous System - Quantity Not Sufficient).  But one reader of this blog recently referred me to the delightful term "pumpkin positive".    This refers to the implication that a penlight shone into the patient's mouth would encounter a brain so small that the whole head would light up.  That had to go on this blog!

  

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4 comments:

  1. Graham Edwards27 May 2014 at 09:31

    Do you remember putting a torch into one's mouth with the lights off and watching cheeks glow? I must try it again and see what happens now?

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    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex27 May 2014 at 11:27

      Comments about second childhood seem appropriate here...

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  2. messymimi27 May 2014 at 13:06

    There's a site i found once that had hundreds of these medical terms that they use to refer to patients without the patient's understanding it, and it was hysterically funny. If i can find it again, maybe i'll do a post on that. Meanwhile, i'm going to use this term!

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  3. Helen27 May 2014 at 15:32

    I think our pusses must be "pumpkin positive". Misty keeps forgetting she's had breakfast (and she nagged enough before)!

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