Thanks for posting that, Remek! I encountered "French" units in my brief
EMT training and experience, but never knew a conversion factor from
those to real units.
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stoney Point Mountain Road
Doyle TN 38559-3030
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On 2014-06-23 19:51, Remek Kocz wrote:
Some of you here might find this mildly amusing, but most will probably
groan. I know I do. In medicine, some doctors like to pronounce the
word centimeter as "sont-o-meter" or "sonometer" if spoken quickly.
Why? Probably because it sounds French and it gives an impression of
using a specialized or esoteric unit unique to the field. Informally, I
noticed that the trend towards this pronunciation is among the
specialties that use centimeters the least. Internal medicine docs tend
to say it that way, while surgeons or obstetricians who use centimeters
daily, usually say things correctly.
Speaking of things French: A curiosity in terms of medical measurement
is the existence of "French" units. They are exactly 1/3 mm and are
used to represent diameters of various catheters (intravenous, bladder)
and tubes. Usually abbreviated "Fr" or sometimes "F." So something
that's 3 Fr, is 1 mm in diameter.
