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What do doctors mean when they say "doughnuts"? You'll be surprised!

Image: National Cancer Institute

You don’t need a stethoscope to enjoy this one. Medicine isn’t always all needles and charts; it can have a sense of humor from time to time. Doctors and nurses use some wild expressions that might sound like something out of a sitcom. Here’s a lighthearted look at 16 real phrases from the medical world that are as funny as they are fascinating. Let’s take a peek behind the curtain at what health pros are really saying.

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This one’s not found in a textbook. Can you imagine what it refers to? Some doctors jokingly toss it around when a patient consistently ignores advice. No, it’s not a real condition, but it’s a witty way to say someone might not be making the wisest health choices. Just hope you’re never the focus of it!

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When someone complains their knee flares up every time it rains, doctors might call it "flu in the knee." It’s an informal way of referring to osteoarthritis, a condition where joints feel swollen, stiff, or achy, often affected by the weather.

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When doctors say "bug juice," they’re not talking about any special drink. It’s a playful nickname for antibiotics, the medicine that fights bacterial infections. Think of it like pest control for your body; it chases off the microscopic troublemakers.

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This grim phrase refers to someone with severe burns. It’s dark humor, often used by emergency responders or burn unit teams. While it’s not said in front of patients, it reflects the emotional armor healthcare workers sometimes need to face a challenging day at work.

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Usually, CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. But in healthcare banter, you might hear someone joke about Chronic Biscuit Toxicity: Just a humorous nod to carrying a few extra pounds. It’s not meant to offend, just to bring some levity into a pretty tough profession.

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Healthcare teams sometimes gather to dissect what went wrong in a tough situation. When that meeting turns into finger-pointing, it becomes a "blamestorm." It's a real workplace phenomenon, you just don’t want to be there!

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In medicine, a "yellow submarine" doesn’t play Beatles tunes. It actually refers to a patient with jaundice. This condition turns the skin and eyes yellow due to liver issues. It’s serious, but the nickname helps lighten the mood.

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Nope, not the one in your computer. In surgical slang, this phrase refers to operations that start but can’t be completed, when they have to close things up and send the patient for a second opinion. It’s medicine’s version of "well, we tried." How crazy is that?

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Pulmonologists—doctors who specialize in lungs and breathing—sometimes get called "snot docs." It’s a playful jab at their constant battles with mucus, coughs, and all things respiratory. Gross? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely!

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A doughnut in medical slang isn’t a treat (they wish!) It’s a CT scanner. The machine’s big, round shape gives it the nickname. Patients lie down and slide through the "hole" to get detailed body images. Sprinkles are not included, though, sorry!

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In hospital lingo, a "white cloud" is someone who seems to bring good luck—calm shifts, easy cases, and no major emergencies. If you’re a white cloud, your coworkers might wish you’d come to work every day.

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This one’s a little spicy. A "noctor" is a nurse who’s acting like a doctor—giving advice or making calls beyond their role. It's usually said behind the scenes, and while it’s not the nicest nickname, it reflects the tension that can sometimes bubble up in high-stress settings.

THE BOOKS THAT SHAPED AMERICA

Discover Ten Iconic Novels Influenced By U.S. States & Cities!

Image: Chris Lawton

It’s no wonder that America has inspired a myriad of iconic authors, including 15 Nobel Prize winners (and counting). This amazing country offers unique landscapes fertile for the imagination, including both the wonders of rural life as well as the bubbling excitement of metropolitan cities.

We have selected ten timeless classics on which American states and cities are not just the background on which the story takes place, but rather a full character in their own right. Be sure to add these to your reading list!

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John Kennedy Toole’s post-humous novel is a hysterical depiction of the misadventures of Ignatius J. Reilly, a lazy and misanthropic man-child looking to impose his medievalist views on the modern world. His search for a job turns into a quest of epic proportions, fueled by his wild demeanor and quirky antics.

While Ignatius is central to this novel, it could also be said that Toole wrote "A Confederacy of Dunces" as a love letter to his beloved New Orleans. His characters are outlandish and eccentric, but are also a product of the colorful charm the "Birthplace of Jazz" has to offer.

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Holden Caufield, the main character and narrator of this J.D. Salinger coming-of-age novel, is a troubled teenager who wanders around New York City after being expelled from his boarding school. The story takes place over a single day, on which Holden strolls through Central Park, attends a play at the Biltmore Theatre, and ice skates in Rockefeller Center.

"The Catcher in the Rye" is considered by many to be an essential read, and is praised for its groundbreaking way of describing teenage rebellion and angst. While New York City seems like a cruel and unforgiving place for Holden, Salinger also goes out of his way to describe this city’s beauty and magnificence.

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Let’s continue with another classic book that features New Orleans. Tennesse Williams named his legendary play after the Desire streetcar line that ran half a block away from his apartment on Toulouse Street, in New Orleans’ beautiful French Quarter.

The double meaning in the play’s title, referring to both the iconic streetcar as well as to the idea that desire is a driving force, shows how this iconic piece of literature could only have been conceived in such a stunning city.

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Author Hunter S. Thompson is considered to be the father of "gonzo" journalism and his 1971 novel "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a clear example of this: a fast-paced and at times surreal descent onto "Sin City". The movie is the basis of a 1998 movie starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro, considered now to be a cult classic.

Thompson’s book is based on two trips he took with Oscar Zeta Acosta in 1971. The author describes those frenzied nights of driving around Las Vegas and manically writing in a hotel room. The flashing lights and countless sources of entertainment that Las Vegas is known for add another layer of craziness to this already relentless whirlwind of a book.

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If you have a friend from San Francisco (or if you are a resident of this wonderful place yourself), you might know that some locals simply refer to San Francisco as "The City". If you didn’t know this fact, you might now realize that Armistead Maupin’s series of novels "Tales of the City" aren’t just about urban life in general, but rather a beautiful depiction of the "Golden City."

Maupin's books were first serialized in The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Examiner, and they revolve around the life of a group of friends living in this city. The first book of the series was published in 1978, while the ninth was released in 2014, and a tenth one is scheduled to be published in 2024.

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While New Orleans is known as "The Birthplace of Jazz", it can’t be denied that Harlem’s influence helped jazz evolve into the groundbreaking genre we know now. Like the music that gives this book its name, Toni Morrison’s 1992 novel "Jazz" is a nonlinear and colorful exploration of the Harlem neighborhood.

The story revolves around Joe and Violet Trace, and their struggles with everyday life in 1920s Harlem. Morrison’s book is now considered an American classic, by a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

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You might be more familiar with Stanley Kubrick's flawless film adaptation, but Stephen King’s 1977 novel "The Shining" marked a turning point in the history of horror literature. The story centers around Jack Torrance, an alcoholic aspiring writer who accepts a job as winter caretaker of the fictional Overlook Hotel, in Colorado. Jack and his family are haunted both by his addiction and by the supernatural beings that reside in the hotel.

While the Overlook is a fictional location, it was inspired by a visit from King and his wife to the Stanley Hotel, located in Rocky Mountain National Park. While supernatural dangers are always present, Colorado’s ruthless winters and the hotel’s isolation add another threat to the family’s safety.

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Truman Capote’s "In Cold Blood" is considered to be the first non-fiction novel in history. The book describes the events that took place in 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas, in which the Clutter family was murdered during a home invasion.

Capote masterfully reconstructs not only how the crime took place, but the personalities and background of both victims and criminals. In that regard, the way the author masterfully depicts the typical way of life of a town like Holcomb, Kansas helps paint a picture of these real-life characters.

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Similar to "The Shining", Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel "Gone with the Wind" might be better known by its 1939 adaptation, starring Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, and Clark Gable. In any case, both mediums tell the story of Scarlett O’Hara, the daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, and the love triangle she is involved with.

This novel is heavily ingrained in pop culture and has been referenced constantly in movies and TV shows. Mitchell’s portrayal of 19th century Georgia (particularly, Atlanta and Clayton County) is among the reasons why this novel is considered one of the biggest examples of American historical fiction.

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We end this article with one of the cornerstones of modern American literature. William Faulkner’s "The Sound and the Fury" describes the life of the Compson family, a Mississippi aristocratic family in decline. The author’s magnificent use of the stream-of-consciousness technique allowed him to recreate the human thought process in an astonishingly accurate manner.

Faulkner sets most of "The Sound and the Fury" in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional Mississippi county on which a lot of his novels are based. However, most critics agree that Yoknapatawpha was largely based in Lafayette County, on which Faulkner spent most of his life.