On Wed, 11 Oct 2000, Rick Froman wrote:
> When my wife was pregnant, the nurses would always talk about how many
> sonnemeters she was dilated. They did not accent ohter words in a similar
> way. I finally determined that they were referring to "centimeters".
>
This one, I think, comes from nursing schools. I have heard nurses say
"sonnemeters" in several different states - usually when referring to
dilation (which they also pronounce "dilatation" by the way), but in other
contexts as well. I have even asked several nurses why they pronounce it
that way, but none have been able to tell me.
Interstingly, OBs seem to say centimeter while OB nurses, in the same
room, say sonnemeters.
-- Jim
