I know there are such people here, and this isn’t quite a GQ. I’m writing a story where one character gets bitten by a spider, and goes to the ER, thinking it may have been poisonous. My question is, how would professionals refer to such a thing? Would the staff call him the guy “with the spider bite”, or is there a more technical term they’d use?
Thanks in advance!
They probably would call him “the guy with the spider bite”.
Okay then!
What about “spider envenomation”?
“Spider bite” will do. The line will be spoken by an overworked, overcaffeinated, overzealous ER doctor. I wanted him to be brusque, but I didn’t want to insult hospital workers by having him use a layman’s term, if there was a medical one that would be used IRL.
From my experience, the overzealous medical staff are the ones who are most likely to use technical jargon, in order to “impress” those around them. Other more mature, wordly medical persons don’t have such a need anymore, so they tend to stick with simpler descriptions for diagnoses.
How about “that stupid asshole who got bitten by a spider?”