RE: Perceptually true, Technically wrong

[Watson Laughton <WLaughton -at- orphan -dot- com>]

>>A few years ago I did a job that involved a training manual for medical
transcription. 
>>The doctors used the abbreviation "LE" to refer to "lower extremity." At
the time I 
>>asked one of the transcribers why they didn't just say "leg", which after
all is 
>>just one more character and much more intuitive. She gently reminded me
that an 
>>LE could potentially be only a portion of a leg.

Hmm.  I could see how a leg could be a portion of an LE (if you include the
foot in the LE), but not vice versa.

In any case (including this one, apparently), medical abbreviations and
acronyms are seldom held up as paragons of clarity.  That's why people die
when they get 50mg of something "q.i.d." instead of "q.d.".  I do think some
of the abbreviations, like "DYF" (drag your feet) or "FLK" (funny looking
kid) are kind of interesting.  And "SOB" (shortness of breath) is colorful.

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