More syllables don’t equal more smarts.

I witnessed a remarkable, specialty-wide verbal rejection of an ophthalmic phrase at the recent ASCRS meeting in Los Angeles. I attended all five days and sat through many presentations, symposia and courses. At first I thought I was the only one who noticed, but I mentioned this remarkable shift to someone, then to another, then to a third. Everyone seemed to notice the same lapse in nomenclature.

“Have you noticed …?” barely escaped my lips when I was interrupted, “Oh, my gosh, yes. You, too?”

DARE WE HOPE?

It seemed too good to be true, so day after day I strained to hear until the tension built so high I almost feared walking into the meeting hall. When I finished on that last day, I made sure no sessions were left for me to attend. Surely the clarities of presentation, the brevities of speech, the talents for turning a phrase — so excellent at this meeting — could not last until its conclusion, but they did.

“It” was the complete renouncement of a tortured phrase repeated at previous meetings until our ears hurt. We watched speakers struggling to select the right word but never finding it, instead copying a phrase used by others, control-V-ing it in lectures while likely never using it in normal conversation.

A MOUTHFUL OF MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN

How it entered the ophthalmic world I do not know, but like a virus it spread throughout the community until it seemed to affect every speaker. Thank goodness the infection seems to have cleared up.

I speak of course of the not-lamented passing of the abominable phrase “… you can add to your surgical armamentarium”. I have never used, nor have I ever heard anyone else use, the word armamentarium in casual speech except perhaps by those who actually use armaments.

I confess this may be a reflection of my sheltered life, because dictionaries define armamentarium as a “collection of resources available or utilized for an undertaking, especially in medicine.” In my defense though, I must say I never heard the word used even in training, and I went to a pretty good medical school.

AT LAST, SIMPLICITY TRIUMPHS

So, while I admit the word has been used correctly, I insist it has also hurt the ears. I have long hoped that the same sentiment could be expressed more simply with a shorter and more common word. This year my dreams have come true. Over and over, speaker after speaker elected to discard the damnable phrase and use instead one that was shorter, more pleasant to hear. To wit: “This is another technique you can use.”

One three-letter word cleared out four words, 22 letters. The new phrase is clearer, flows off the tongue and slips peacefully into the ears. This audience is appreciative and sends its gratitude. OM

Paul S. Koch, MD is editor emeritus of OM and medical director of Koch Eye Associates in Warwick, RI. His e-mail is pskoch@clarisvision.com.