DEFIBRILLATOR

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M. Henri Day
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DEFIBRILLATOR

Postby M. Henri Day » Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:04 pm

While this word may not be among the most exciting that our dear doctor (not that kind of doctor !) has chosen as GWotD, its referent must be exciting - otherwise it won't work ! But whenever I read closing sentences like
Both these explanations are fraught with problems.

I wonder what doc is holding out on us. If he's not careful, I'll reach for that defibrillator on the wall and drive those thoughts of romance right out of his mind !...

Henri
• defibrillator •

Pronunciation: dee-fib-bri-leyt-êr • Hear it!

Part of Speech:
Noun

Meaning: An electric shock machine that stops fibrillation, the rapid, random twitching of the fibers of the heart that prevents proper beating.

Notes: Today's word comes from the world of Medicine with a large family in tow. A fibril is a small fiber or strand in striated muscle tissue, which is made up of such strands. It has several adjectives, fibrillous and fibrillar among them. The verb is fibrillate "to twitch rapidly without movement" referring to muscle tissue. The nouns are fibrillation and defibrillation.

In Play: We hope you will have no need for a defibrillator but if you should, we hope one is nearby: "Amelia was clinically dead for a few seconds when her heart stopped beating but someone saw a defibrillator on the wall and used it to restore her to the living." The older we get, the less we think about romance and the more we think about things like defibrillators.

Word History: This medical term is a creation of the prefix de- "reverse the action" + fibril, the diminutive of Latin fibra "fiber" + the suffix –ate + the agentive suffix -or "that which does something". The origin of fibra is something of a mystery. Some etymologists trace it back to a root *fid- from Latin findere "to split"; others, to filum "thread". Both these explanations are fraught with problems.

Image
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:24 am

"Amelia was clinically dead for a few seconds when her heart stopped beating but someone saw a defibrillator on the wall and used it to restore her to the living."
Sure, what respectable house doesn't have one hanging on the wall?

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:51 am

O, do they have «respectable houses» in Brazil, as well ?...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:57 am

Yeah, those are not counted among the houses of ill repute.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:41 pm

So, if I understand you correctly, BD, in Brazil, respectable houses have defibrillators hanging on the wall, whereas less respectable houses do not ?...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:56 pm

one wonders what kind of defibrillator was on the wall?
This:
Image
or this:
Image

Kt
(Who keeps hers in a cupboard)

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:06 pm

For the sake of the wall, let's hope it was the former ! (On a more serious note, the progress made in minaturising formerly bulky, heavy, and generally clumsy apparatus has been amazing, and, one suspects, life-saving....)

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:48 pm

So, if I understand you correctly, BD, in Brazil, respectable houses have defibrillators hanging on the wall, whereas less respectable houses do not ?...
You got it. And boats too.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:53 pm

...

And boats too.
Now that would indeed seem to be a novel method for defibrillation ! Please advise more closely !...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:59 pm

If I advise more closely, I shall be electrocuted.

Brazilian dude

Feels good to throw shall around every once in a while.
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:08 pm

Then please don't....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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gailr
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Postby gailr » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:39 pm

de-
pref.
Do or make the opposite of; reverse.
Remove or remove from.

fib
n
An insignificant or childish lie.

rill
n
A small brook; a rivulet.
A long narrow straight valley on the moon's surface.

-ator
suff
One that acts in a specified manner.

Parsed this way, a defibrillator will straighten you out, son. And if not, there's always Old Sparky


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